Perjury under IPC
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Section 191 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 states that “Whoever, being legally bound by an oath or by an express provision of law to state the truth or being bound by law to make a declaration upon any subject, makes any statement which is false, and which he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, is said to give false evidence.”
Ques: What is the requirement of enacting this provision? How is a case of perjury identified, proved and brought to justice?
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Firstly section 191 of the Indian Penal Code states that “Whoever, being legally bound by an oath or by an express provision of law to state the truth or being bound by law to make a declaration upon any subject, makes any statement which is false, and which he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, is said to give false evidence.”
This offence is also called perjury or forswearing. This basically means a person is misrepresenting the truth willfully when under oath. For example, when a witness is produced in court and is kept under oath. But he lies when he was kept in oath because of which a criminal had been set free from prosecution or an innocent man is sent to jail.
Such a person is said to have committed the offence of forswearing or perjury. In court, this is considered as a serious offence as it disrupts the decorum of the court and results in miscarriage of justice.
A person who has committed the offence of perjury by lying in any stage of judicial proceeding will be punishable under section 193 of the Indian Penal Code.
Section 193 of the Indian penal code states that “Whoever intentionally gives false evidence in any stage of a judicial proceeding, or fabricates false evidence for the purpose of being used in any stage of a judicial proceeding, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine, and whoever intentionally gives or fabricates false evidence in any other case, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine”.
Basically, it consists of a punishment term which may extend to a period of seven years and shall also be liable for a fine.
Such an offence is considered non – cognizable, bailable, non-compoundable. And, triable by the magistrate of the first class.
The popular term “Perjury” is defined under Section 191 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 as “Giving false evidence”. Under the Section it is stated that whoever, being legally bound by an oath or by any express provision of law to state the truth, or being bound by law to make a declaration upon any subject, makes any statement which is false, and which he either knows or believes to be false, or does not believe to be true, is said to give false evidence. A statement made under this section can be verbally or of any other kind also.
To commit the offence under this section it is required that a person who is giving false evidence must be legally bound by an oath to state the truth, or by any express provision of law, or he must be bound by law to make a declaration upon any matter. The statement must be a false statement and the person who is making the statement must be aware of the fact that the statement is false. The person making the false statement must have malafide intention as he knows that the statement he made will affect the outcome of the proceeding. Anyone is not bound to go to the witness box, but once you decided to go to the witness box and take oath, the person becomes bound to state the truth and he is not entitled to say that he could have chosen not to come on to the witness box .
Any person who identified or proved guilty under this section will be punished under section 193 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 i.e. Punishment for false evidence. If a person has given false statement in any stage of judicial proceeding or presented any false evidence which will be used in any stage of judicial proceeding shall be punished with imprisonment of either description of term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable for fine. In any other case the punishment will be extend to three years and fine.The crime of Perjury crosses the definitions between substantive and procedural law, challenging both crime and the judicial system. Perjury in simple words can be defined as an offence of lying when you are under oath. So, Perjury as a crime is not stated in the IPC. The crime referred to is “False evidence”. Section 191 of the IPC deals with false evidence which deals with making a false statement under oath which he believes to be false and still makes it knowing its falsehood.
The Punishment in Section 193 of the IPC would extend till seven years with fine. Intentional fabrication of false evidence would further increase the term for another three years with fine,
False evidence would also be punished if one uses corrupt or false or fabricated evidence, with knowledge of it being false. Such an Act would be punished under Section 196 of the IPC.
Section 195 is the inherent power of the Court to make a complaint it case of false evidentiary document or evidence presented before the Court. The same should interfere in the administration of justice. The section authorizes a preliminary enquiry as it thinks necessary and then a subsequent complaint can be made under Section 340 of the CrPC.
Section 344 of CrPC: This section introduces an additional alternative procedure to punish perjury by the very Court before which it is committed in place of old Section 479 A which did not have the desired effect to eradicate the evils of perjury.
The Best Bakery case took place in Vadodara, Gujarat. Around 1000 rioters attacked the bakery which was also the residence of late Habibullah Sheikh at midnight and killed the family as well as the workers. Zaheera was a witness in the given case however; she later said she had lied in her statements due to threats. She was therefore said have been a hostile witness and charges of perjury were pressed against her.
The procedure for perjury is complex and in India, it is seldom used. Witnesses also turn hostile during examinations. Threats and inducements are the major causes of Perjury. There is no adequate legal force to protect the witnesses. However, protection of witnesses constitutes one of the Fundamental Principles of Criminal Law.
Perjury not also affects the instant case but also adversely affects the administration of justice where truth is compromised with. Apart from wrongful conviction and makes a mockery of the Criminal Justice system. Indian courts don not take serious actions against people alleged of perjury. The punishment or sanction for perjury is less in India compared to other countries. In New York, for instance, the sentence served is of 15 years. It is essential to tackle the problem as it affects adversely the very foundation of the Criminal Justice System.
The Malimath Committee report on Criminal Justice System deals with the offence of Perjury and how the same can be brought under check.
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