152.—Definitions
(1) In this Sub-Division—
“document” includes any register, book, record, tape-recording, any form of computer input or output, and any other material whether produced mechanically, electrically, or manually or by any other means whatsoever;
(a) any paper or other material on which there is writing; or
(b) any paper or other material on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations that are—
(i) capable of being given a meaning by persons qualified to interpret them; or
(ii) capable of being responded to by a computer, a machine or an electronic device; or
(c) any article or material (for example, a disk or a tape) from which information is capable of being reproduced with or without the aid of any other article or device.
“false government document” has the meaning given by section 154.
“false document” has the meaning given by section 153.
“information” means information, whether in the form of data, text, sounds, images or in any other form
(2) The following are things that are covered by the definition of document in sub-section (1)—
(a) a credit card;
(b) a debit card;
(c) a card by means of which property can be obtained.
156.—Forgery
(1) A person commits an indictable offence (which is triable summarily) if the person makes a false document with the intention that the person or another person will use it—
(a) to dishonestly induce a third person in the third person’s capacity as a public official to accept it asgenuine; and
(b) if it is so accepted, to dishonestly obtain a gain, dishonestly cause a loss, or dishonestly influence the exercise of a public duty or function.
Penalty - Imprisonment for 10 years.
(2) In a prosecution for an offence against sub-section (1), it is not necessary to prove that the defendant knew that the capacity was a capacity as a public official.
(3) A person commits an indictable offence (which is triable summarily) if the person
makes a false document with the intention that the person or another will use it—
(a) to dishonestly cause a computer, a machine or an electronic device to respond to the document as if the document were genuine; and
(b) if it is so responded to, to dishonestly obtain a gain, dishonestly cause a loss, or dishonestly influence the exercise of a public duty or function;
Penalty — Imprisonment for 10 years.
157. Using forged document
(1) A person commits an indictable offence (which is triable summarily) if the person knows that a document is a false document and uses it with the intention of—
(a) dishonestly inducing another person in the other person’s capacity as a public official to accept it as genuine; and
(b) if it isso accepted, dishonestly obtaining a gain, dishonestly causing a loss, or dishonestly influencing the exercise of a public duty or function.
Penalty — Imprisonment for 10 years.
(2) In a prosecution for an offence against sub-section (1), it is not necessary to prove
that the defendant knew that the capacity was a capacity as a public official.
(3) A person commits an indictable offence (which is triable summarily) if the person knows that a document is a false document and uses it with the intention of—
(a) dishonestly causing a computer, a machine or an electronic device to respond to the document as if the document were genuine; and
(b) if it is so responded to, dishonestly obtaining a gain, dishonestly causing a loss, or dishonestly influencing the exercise of a public duty or function.
Penalty — Imprisonment for 10 years.
158. Possession of forged document
(1) A person commits an indictable offence (which is triable summarily) if the person knows that a document is a false document and has it in his or her possession with the intention that the person or another will use it—
(a) to dishonestly induce a third person in the third person’s capacity as a public official to accept it as genuine; and
(b) if it is so accepted, to dishonestly obtain a gain, dishonestly cause a loss, or dishonestly influence the exercise of a public duty or function.
Penalty — Imprisonment for 10 years.
(2) In a prosecution for an offence against sub-section (1), it is not necessary to prove that the defendant knew that the capacity was a capacity as a public official.
(3) A person commits an indictable offence (which is triable summarily) if the person knows that a document is a false document and has it in his or her possession with the intention that the person or another will use it—
(a) to dishonestly cause a computer, a machine or an electronic device to respond to the document as if the document were genuine; and
(b) if it is so responded to, to dishonestly obtain a gain, dishonestly cause a loss, or dishonestly influence the exercise of a public duty or function.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.
159. Possession, making or adaptation of devices etc. for making forgeries
(1) A person commits an indictable offence (which is triable summarily) if—
(a) the person knows that a device, material or other thing is designed or adapted for the making of a false document (whether or not the device, material or thing is designed or adapted for another purpose); and
(b) the person has the device, material or thing in his or her possession with the intention that the person or another person will use it to commit an offence against section 156.
Penalty — Imprisonment for 10 years.
(2) A person commits an indictable offence (which is triable summarily) if—
(a) the person makes or adapts a device, material or other thing; and
(b) the person knows that the device, material or other thing is designed or adapted for the making of a false document (whether or not the device, material or thing is designed or adapted for another purpose); and
(c) the person makes or adapts the device, material or thing with the intention that the person or another person will use it to commit an offence against section 156.
Penalty — Imprisonment for 10 years.
(3) A person commits a summary offence if—
(a) the person knows that a device, material or other thing is designed or adapted for the making of a false Government document (whether or not the device, material or thing is designed or adapted for another purpose); and
(b) the person has the device, material or thing in his or her possession; and
(c) the person does not have a reasonable excuse for having the device, material or thing in his or her possession.
Penalty — Imprisonment for 2 years.
(4) A person commits a summary offence if—
(a) the person makes or adapts a device, material or other thing; and
(b) the person knows that the device, material or other thing is designed or adapted for the making of a false Government document (whether or not the device, material or thing is designed or adapted for another purpose).
Penalty: Imprisonment for 2 years.
160. Falsification of documents etc.
(1) A person commits a summary offence if —
(a) the person dishonestly damages, destroys, alters, conceals or falsifies a document; and
(b) the document is—
(i) kept, retained or issued for the purposes of any law; or
(ii) made by a government entity or a person in the capacity of a public official; or
(iii) held by a government entity or a person in the capacity of a public official; and
(c) the first‑mentioned person does so with the intention of:
(i) obtaining a gain; or
(ii) causing a loss.
Penalty — Imprisonment for 7 years.
(2) Absolute liability applies to the paragraph (1)(b) element of the offence.
(3) A person commits a summary offence if—
(a) the person dishonestly damages, destroys, alters, conceals or falsifies a document; and
(b) the person does so with the intention of:
(i) obtaining a gain from another person; or
(ii) causing a loss to another person; and
(c) the other person is a government entity.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 7 years.
(4) In a prosecution for an offence against sub-section (3), it is not necessary to prove that the defendant knew that the other person was a government entity.
