Allahabad High Court Sets Aside Forgery Case Against International Shooter Vartika Singh

The Allahabad High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against international shooter and President’s awardee Vartika Singh, holding that no offence of forgery or cheating was made out against her in a case where she was instead found to be the victim of an alleged impersonation and bribery racket.

The bench of Justice Rajeev Singh allowed Singh’s petition filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and set aside the entire proceedings of a 2021 case arising out of Case Crime No. 402 of 2020 registered at Musafirkhana police station in Amethi.

The FIR had invoked multiple serious provisions, including Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code along with Sections 66 and 67C of the Information Technology Act, accusing Singh of preparing forged documents and using them to damage the reputation of others.

According to the case placed before the court, Singh was approached in April 2020 by one Rajneesh Singh, who contacted her through social media and phone calls. He allegedly introduced himself as a politically influential individual closely associated with senior ministers, including then-cabinet minister Smriti Zubin Irani, and claimed that he could facilitate Singh's nomination as a Member of the National Commission for Women.

Vartika Singh stated that Rajneesh Singh shared documents through WhatsApp purporting to show favourable recommendations from high offices, including letters allegedly addressed to the Prime Minister’s Office. Acting on these representations, Singh shared her educational and sports certificates, which were sent by her father.

Court noted that Rajneesh Singh later escalated his demands and, on November 7, 2020, allegedly sought Rs 25 lakh from Singh to ensure her appointment. When she refused to pay any bribe and attempted to verify the authenticity of the documents with government officials, she was informed that no such official correspondence or inquiry existed.

Singh then approached senior authorities, including officials linked to the concerned ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office, and also sought action through social media. However, instead of her complaint being investigated, multiple FIRs were lodged against her in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

In the Amethi case, the prosecution alleged that Singh had herself fabricated forged letters and circulated them to malign others. A charge sheet was filed against her on this basis.

The high court, after examining the case diary and material on record, found serious flaws in the investigation. It observed that despite allegations of forgery, the Investigating Officer had not sent the disputed documents to any forensic science laboratory to ascertain who prepared them.

Justice Singh noted that there was no evidence to show that the applicant had authored or forged any of the documents in question. Court also found no material supporting the charge of cheating, particularly when the documents were produced by the applicant before authorities for verification rather than for unlawful gain.

Relying on Supreme Court judgments, including Sheila Sebastian v. R. Jawaharaj and Tuhin Kumar Biswas v. State of West Bengal, the court reiterated that forgery charges cannot stand in the absence of proof that the accused prepared the forged documents.

Court further observed that the investigation appeared to have proceeded in a mechanical manner and that the applicant was being prosecuted despite being the one who raised the grievance of impersonation and bribery demand.

Holding that continuation of the criminal proceedings would amount to abuse of the process of law, the high court allowed the application and quashed the entire proceedings against Vartika Singh.

Notably, last year, the high court dismissed a plea by Vartika Singh challenging the Sultanpur Special MP/MLA Court's October 2022 decision to reject her defamation complaint against BJP leader Smriti Zubin Irani.

In her complaint, Singh had alleged that Irani gave defamatory statements to print and electronic media regarding Singh that damaged her reputation. She claimed that Irani's remarks that Singh has a close association with the Congress party which was using her as its pawn, lowered her public image.

Singh had also claimed that in collusion with then-Minister Smriti Irani, Vijay Gupta, the personal secretary of the minister and one Rajnish Singh tried to dupe Rs 25 lakh from her to make her a member of the State Women's Commission.

Case Title: Vartika Singh vs. State of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. Home Civil Secrtt. Lko and others

Order Date: December 19, 2025

Bench: Justice Rajeev Singh