Forgery requires deceit plus injury; signing in another's name was not fraudulent where no legal or financial detriment was shown.

Forgery under Sections 463 and 464 of the Penal Code requires more than deceit: the conduct must also be fraudulent, meaning deceit coupled with injury to the person deceived. That injury need not be pecuniary and may include non-economic detriment or deprivation of a legal right, while an advantage to the deceiver may satisfy the requirement if it causes corresponding detriment. On the stated facts, signing insurance papers in another's name was deceitful but produced no unlawful benefit or injury, so the conviction for forgery could not stand and the sentence was set aside.

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Issues: Whether signing documents in another person's name, without causing pecuniary loss or obtaining an unlawful advantage, amounts to making a false document fraudulently within the meaning of the Penal Code and therefore constitutes forgery.

Analysis: The definition of forgery under Section 463 and the definition of false document under Section 464 were read together. The expressions "dishonestly" and "fraudulently" were treated as distinct, and "fraudulently" was held to require deceit coupled with injury to the person deceived. The injury need not be limited to economic loss and may include deprivation of a legal right or other non-pecuniary harm. Even where no actual loss is shown, an advantage to the deceiver may satisfy the second element if it results in detriment to the deceived. On the facts, the appellant signed the insurance papers in the name of her daughter, but the transaction was found to be entirely hers, with no unlawful benefit to her and no injury, pecuniary or otherwise, to the insurer.

Conclusion: The appellant's conduct was deceitful but not fraudulent in the statutory sense, and the conviction for forgery could not stand. The appeal was allowed and the conviction and sentence were set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: To establish forgery under Sections 463 and 464 of the Penal Code, deceit alone is insufficient; there must also be injury to the person deceived, though that injury need not be pecuniary and may consist of non-pecuniary detriment or deprivation of a legal right.

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