Court Dismisses Dh2.2M Forgery Challenge Over Disputed Promissory Note

A Dubai court has thrown out a forgery lawsuit filed by two Arab nationals challenging a promissory note valued at Dh2.2 million, ruling that the case lacked seriousness and legal interest.

 

The claimants alleged that the original amount on the note had been altered by adding extra zeros in ink different from the rest of the document, inflating the value from Dh200,000 to more than Dh2 million. They sought an order compelling the defendants to produce the original note and refer it to Dubai Police’s forensic laboratory to examine the ink, additions, signature and recorded data.

 

However, after reviewing the filings, the Dubai Court of First Instance ruled the case inadmissible.

 

In its judgment, the court said the forgery claim related to a Dh2.2 million promissory note that the claimants alleged had been “padded” with non-contemporaneous ink. The plaintiffs had requested forensic examination to prove the alleged alteration, but the court found no sufficient grounds to proceed.

 

According to the claimants, the dispute arose from debt rescheduling agreements signed with the defendants in 2016 and 2018 for the construction of residential rooms on specified land plots. Under those agreements, debts exceeding Dh11.4 million were restructured to be repaid through 24 equal cheques. They claimed the defendants later defaulted, leading to legal action and the appointment of an accounting expert.

 

During expert proceedings in an earlier dispute, the plaintiffs said they were taken by surprise when a photocopy of the Dh2.2 million promissory note was submitted. They denied its validity and challenged it as a forgery, requesting that the original be produced for technical examination.

 

The defendants countered that the lawsuit was inadmissible against some of them for lack of standing and unfounded in law. They argued that they only held a carbon copy of the promissory note and that the original document was in the claimants’ possession, not theirs.

 

In its reasoning, the court noted that an original forgery claim cannot be admitted if the disputed document has already been relied upon in ongoing proceedings. In such circumstances, allegations of forgery must be raised as a defence before the court handling the main dispute.

 

The court also observed that the plaintiffs had expressly acknowledged the authenticity of the signature on the promissory note, which under the law implies the validity of its contents unless erasure or alteration is proven. It said there was no convincing evidence of tampering, particularly as the defendants did not possess the original document.

 

Concluding that the forgery challenge lacked seriousness and that the claimants had no legal interest in compelling production of a document not held by the defendants, the court ruled the case inadmissible and ordered the claimants to pay court fees and expenses.

 

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