A man named Dagli Riba from Arunachal Pradesh stands accused of forging the powers of attorney of 102 landowners whose land was acquired for a defence project near the India–China border. The central government informed the Supreme Court that the Defence Ministry originally set compensation at ₹70 crore in February 2023, which was later raised to ₹418 crore by a reference court. Riba allegedly submitted fake documents and sought an interim deposit of ₹210 crore—half of the enhanced amount—despite the landowners having already received and acknowledged compensation in November 2023. The government contends that the documents involved unregistered and mismatched signatures, and challenges the interim Gauhati High Court order directing payment. The Supreme Court has agreed to urgently hear the appeal against this order.

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