Daily Times

Perjury is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation, to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding. It is one of the key impediments in the dispensation of justice in our country. This very act is so dangerous that it alters the whole course of justice by rendering guilty as innocent and innocent as guilty. This is against the very spirit of executing justice and amounts to a mockery of justice. Such a mala fide act provides people with a reason to point their fingers at the credibility and integrity of the judicial system.

Realising the gravity of the situation, the honourable chief justice Mr Asif Saeed Khosa has embarked on the mission to jettison the justice system of the rubbish of false testimony. He, in of his address, about the malaise of perjury, remarked that the people of Indian sub-continent were such pathological liars that even on the deathbed, they couldn’t refrain from voicing mendacity; therefore, the validity and admissibility of “Dying Declaration” in such a milieu of prevarication stood questionable.

To this end, the honourable Supreme Court, a couple of days earlier, released its detailed judgment over the legal status of false testimony; ordering legal proceedings under perjury against any witness found to have resorted to deliberate falsehood.

The order, penned by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa in reference to a case of false testimony of Assistant Sub-Inspector Khizar Hayat, rejected false testimony by a witness and declared that the rule falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus (false in one thing, false in everything) will, henceforth, be an integral part of jurisprudence in criminal cases.

The apex court, in its judgment, ordered courts to not allow any leniency against those resorting to false testimonies and reject testimonies, if even a part of them were based on lies.

“… A judicial system which permits deliberate falsehood is doomed to fail and a society which tolerates it is destined to self-destruct. Truth is the foundation of criminal justice system, and justice is the core and bedrock of a civilised society and, thus, any compromise on truth amounts to a compromise on a society’s future as a just, fair and civilised society,” the order read.

“Our judicial system has suffered a lot as a consequence of the above-mentioned permissible deviation from the truth and it is about time that such a colossal wrong may be rectified in all earnestness.”

“Therefore, in light of the discussion made above, we declare that the rule falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus shall henceforth be an integral part of our jurisprudence in criminal cases and the same shall be given effect to, followed and applied by all the courts in the country in its letter and spirit.”

The judgment further stated, “It is also directed that a witness found by a court to have resorted to a deliberate falsehood on a material aspect shall, without any latitude, invariably be proceeded against for committing perjury.”

Testifying falsehood is, indeed, a colossal crime and a great sin in a theological sense. Almost every religion of the world shows humongous aversion to this shameful act. We observe that the prohibition of perjury is one of the Ten Commandments in the Torah. In the Old Testament, we read, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.” (Exodus 20:16)

Perjury fosters the spread of corruption; giving rise to a malady that eats away at the very substance of a state, its institutions and its people

The New Testament tells us that Jesus prohibited perjury among other sins. In the New Testament, we read the following verse, “He said to Him, ‘Which ones?’ Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness.'” (Matthew 19:18)

The holy Quran orders Muslims to avoid perjury. In the Qur’an, we read the following verse, “…therefore avoid the uncleanness of the idols and avoid false words.” (Al-hajj 22:30)

According to the Qur’an, one of the qualities of the true servants of Allah is that they do not testify to falsehood. In the Qur’an, we read the following verses: “And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace…and [they are] those who do not testify to falsehood, and when they pass near ill speech, they pass by with dignity.” (Al-furqan 25:63-72)

Prophet Mohammad (SAW) considered perjury one of the most major sins. Abu Bakrah Nufai` bin Al-Harith reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “Shall I not inform you of the biggest of the major sins?” The Messenger of Allah asked this question thrice. People said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.” He said, “Ascribing partners to Allah, and to be undutiful to your parents.” The Messenger of Allah sat up from his reclining position and said, “And I warn you against giving a forged statement and a false testimony; I warn you against giving a forged statement and false testimony.”

The Messenger of Allah kept repeating that warning till we wished he would stop. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) also indicated that perjury rendered fasting valueless. He once said, “Whoever does not abandon falsehood in word and action, and then Allah does not care if he leaves his food and drink.” (Al-Bukhari)

Furthermore, giving false evidence is a criminal offence under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), punishable with life imprisonment or rigorous imprisonment for 10 years. However, laws convicting those found to be perpetrators of perjury are hardly ever applied and, therefore, the perjurers go scot-free in our courts. In a telling statement on judicial reforms, the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Registrar submitted a reply last year that “The SHC and its subordinate courts have not prosecuted even a single individual over the past three years for perjury under Sections 193-196 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).” Resorting to mendacity in court is a grave criminal offence because it undermines the very purpose of the justice system, which is to deliver justice to the people without creating an iota of doubt over its integrity and credibility.

Moreover, it was also held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in a case reported as PLD 1984 Supreme Court Page 44 that perjury is one of the most heinous social and moral offences. It is not only an offence punishable under the law, as stipulated under Section 194 PPC but also against the injunctions of Holy Qur’an (Sura Al-Nisa: 135). It is an evil, which tends to disrupt the very basis of social order and make a mockery of the judicial system, be it Islamic or otherwise. Any person who deliberately tells a lie during the solemn proceedings of a Court of Law, knowing fully well that he is, thereby, likely to ruin the life or reputation of an innocent person or put his liberty into jeopardy by falsely involving him in a criminal case, does not deserve any leniency and ought never to be let off lightly. The courts must arrest this tendency with a firm hand and do everything in their power to eradicate this evil from its roots.

Additionally, perjury also fosters the spread of corruption; giving rise to a malady that eats away at the very substance of a state, its institutions and its people. Those who are rich and amass the wealth through illegal means, rest assured, would remain untouched by the law. They are cocksure that they would easily find false testifiers who, for minuscule pecuniary gains, would lend them a helping hand in peppering over their crime.

To sum it up, those committing perjury, including distorting and destroying of evidence by the law enforcement agencies, must be punished by stiff imprisonments and heavy fines commensurate to the nature of the offence. The punishment should be exactly what the accused would have got if the evidence had been held to be correct. If based on the statements of the witnesses committing perjury, the accused would go to the gallows, shouldn’t those giving false evidence also face the gallows themselves? The judges must decide each case of perjury on merit and come down with a heavy hand against perjurers as well as their manipulators and abettors; failing in doing so would ultimately result in loss of judiciary’s credibility and integrity among the desperate justice seekers of the country.

The writer is a legal practitioner-cum-columnist based in Quetta