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Definition and Classification of Questioned Documents

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62 views17 pages

Definition and Classification of Questioned Documents

Uploaded by

bagarnab4
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS

Johny Chingakham
School of Management Studies
DEFINITION
 Any writing surface that contains visible, partially visible, or invisible writing strokes or matter
and meaning is referred to as a document.
 Questioned document examinations are typically involved in forgery cases, white-collar
crimes, medical malpractices, and anonymous letters.
CLASSIFICATION
Forensic Documents Are Classified Into Two Categories:
1.Standard Documents
2.Disputed documents or suspected documents, or questioned documents.

The standard documents are referred to as the documents having a known origin and can be subdivided into
two more categories:
1.Sample signature/writings or specimens obtained by the I.O.(Input/Output) from the accused or suspect
before the court or in the presence of the witness.
2.Undeniably genuine signatures or writings are the normal writings that are on paper by the suspect in the
routine sequence of the professional.
CLASSIFICATION
Questioned or disputed documents are of unknown origin and are under
scrutiny. Such as
Question of materials from where documents are produced
Questioned or disputed age of dates in the documents
Questioned Holograph documents
Documents that contain alleged fraudulent alterations
Document with questioned signature
Sub-types of Questioned Documents
1. Documents having questioned signatures:
•These are the most common types of questioned documents which may
be legal or commercial papers such as deed, will, assignment, agreement,
contract, draft order, receipt, notes, cheques, etc.
•Generally, the signatures are obtained by stimulating or copying, or tracing
the process
•Apart from writing characteristics, it is also very important to get an ink
examination
2. Documents that contain alleged fraudulent alterations
The alterations are made by
• Additions
• Erasures- Mechanical or chemical
• Substitution or interlineations
• Stokes sequence is required to be examined in these cases
3. Questioned Holograph documents
•These can include letters from famous people, letters of credit, letters of recommendation or
introduction, certificates, valuable manuscripts, rare stamps, etc.
•Scrutiny includes an examination of watermarks or paper, folds, seal impressions, writing, ink,
etc.
4. Questioned or disputed age of dates in the documents
•These kinds of documents are supposed to be ancient documents of great significance.
•Origin of paper or use of instruments for writing is very crucial for examination.
5. Question of materials from where the documents are produced
•This category includes documents that are dated several years before the paper was made (or
when the document’s relative age is needed to be decided)
6. Documents with questioned handwriting comprise:
•Registrations, subscriptions, and other miscellaneous writings
•Anonymous and suicidal notes and disputed letters
7. Genuine documents fraudulently or erroneously attacked
When purposefully or by mistake unknowingly, the writer writes more than just one pattern of
signatures, or maybe some of the characters in the writing of a document can be erroneously
treated as questioned documents.
Examples of documents
Bank Documents
•Fixed Deposit/Time Deposit Receipts
•Bank Securities
•Bonds
•Share Certificates
•Specimen signature cards
•Account opening forms
•Gift cheques, cheques, drafts
Examples of documents
Postal Documents
•Revenue Stamps/Postal Stamps
•Inland Letters/Envelopes
•Cheques and money order forms
•Time Deposit/Fixed Deposit Receipts
•Kisan Vikas Patra, National Savings Certificate, and Indira Vikas Patra
Examples of documents
Educational Documents
•Migration/registration certificates
•Answer sheets/question papers of important competitive examinations
•Date of Birth Certificates
•Transfer Certificates
•Mark sheets
•Diploma/Degree certificates
Examples of documents
Court Documents
•Important judgments of apex courts
•Non-Judicial/Judicial Stamp papers
•Release orders
•Bail orders
Examples of documents
Police Documents
•Non-cognizable report formats
•First Information report formats
•Security Passes
•I-Cards
•Firearm licenses
•Driving licenses
•Vehicle registration certificates
Examples of documents
Government Documents
• Insurance Policies
• Air tickets/Railway tickets
• Cash books
• ACR formats
• Service Books
• Recommendations
• Reports/Expert reports/Postmortem reports/Inspection Reports
• Memorandum of Understanding
• Important agreements

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