Punishment for false evidence
AI Assist
Summary
Knowingly giving or fabricating evidence for use in any stage of a judicial proceeding is an offence. If the false evidence is intended for a judicial proceeding (including court-martial or preliminary investigations), the offender can be imprisoned for up to seven years and fined. If the false evidence is given or fabricated in any other situation, punishment can be imprisonment for up to three years and a fine.
Example
Priya, in an inquiry before a magistrate to decide whether Aditya should be committed for trial, swears a statement she knows is false. Since that inquiry is a stage of a judicial proceeding, Priya can be punished with imprisonment for up to seven years and a fine.
Bare Act
Enacted textWhoever intentionally gives false evidence in any 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.
Explanations
(1) A trial before a Court-martial is a judicial proceeding.
(2) An investigation directed by law preliminary to a proceeding before a Court of Justice, is a stage of a judicial proceeding, though that investigation may not take place before a Court of Justice.
Illustrations
(1) A, in an enquiry before a Magistrate for the purpose of ascertaining whether Z ought to be committed for trial, makes on oath a statement which he knows to be false. As this enquiry is a stage of a judicial proceeding, A as given false evidence.
(3) An investigation directed by a Court of Justice according to law, and conducted under the authority of a Court of Justice, is a stage of a judicial proceeding, though that investigation may not take place before a Court of Justice.
Illustrations
(1) A, in an enquiry before an officer deputed by a Court of Justice to ascertain on the spot the boundaries of land, makes on oath a statement which he knows to be false. As this enquiry is a stage of a judicial proceeding, A has given false evidence.
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