THE BEST Bakery and Jessica Lal murder trials have brought to light one of the most important aspects of law- Perjury.
The key witness in the Best Bakery trial Zaheera Sheikh was sentenced to one-year imprisonment on charges of perjury. And on the other, the key witnesses in the Jessica Lal murder case may be dealt with severity for changing their statements in the court of law.
Section 191 clearly states, “Whosoever, being legally bound by an oath or by an express provision of law of state the truth, or being bound by law to make a declaration upon any subject, (whether verbally or otherwise), 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.”
According to Supreme Court a person commits an offence under section 191, 192 if a witness swears by a false affidavit in proceeding before a court.
Perjury is a serious offence that comprises; giving, fabricating or using false evidence, issuing or using false certificate, making a false statement in declaration, causing evidence of crime to disappear, giving false information regarding an offence to mislead investigating authorities, destroying documents to cover an offence, falsely impersonating another in a legal suit, wrongful claim of property to prevent its seizure, making false claim, or obtaining a false decree, falsely charging a person with an offence, giving shelter to offenders, accepting gift in return for screening an offender, public servants framing incorrect report, wrongful commitment, intentionally allowing an offender to escape, resistance to lawful arrest, impersonation of a juror or assessor.