Abstract

Forgery is not a fierce crime. Rather it's an art, and it requires artistic qualities to commit undetectable forgery. But here, the word art is not used in a positive sense and equating it with something as pleasant as the art will not absolve it from being a crime. In ancient society, most crimes were physical crimes, and the laws were made to prevent those crimes. The era of documents came when the testamentary wills & documents were issued for the proof of holding property which led to the creation of false documents with an intent to prove ownership on other’s land. In India, forgery was mostly done for the purposes of obtaining property & matters related to adoption. This was done through forging documents of wills, signatures, and negotiable instruments. The article tries to make understand its readers how forgery became a separate crime and, at the same time, its inclusion in the common law. Also, the article tries to know how flexible the crime of forgery is & its development in India.

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