Man gets 2-yr RI for perjury
Giving false evidence in a court proved costly for a man, as the Tis Hazari Court chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) Vinod Yadav on Saturday sentenced him to two years’ rigorous imprisonment for his act.
The CMM had on Friday convicted the witness, Jagbir Singh, guilty of perjury under Section 197 (giving false evidence) of the IPC, after finding that he has misled the court of metropolitan magistrate, M.S. Rohilla, who had to acquit an accused in 1999 in a case lodged under Section 304-A (rash and negligent act causing death), in which Singh turned hostile during the trial.
In the complaint, the MM had said, Singh and Lala Ram (now expired), who were eye-witnesses in the case, had deposed falsely in the court during their cross examination.
The court also imposed a fine of `10,000 on the convict, Singh, apart from paying `25,000 as compensation to the state.
Keeping in view the fact that Singh had two school-going children to support and has faced trial for 10 years, the court awarded him rigorous imprisonment for two years only against the maximum jail term of seven years for perjury.
Taking serious note of the act of Singh, the court observed, “This court has noticed that on account of persons deposing falsely in the court, a lot of criminals go unpunished. As a consequence thereof, general public gets the feeling that by deposing falsely in the court of justice, the accused can get away.”
Rejecting the plea of Singh that he did not know the consequences of his answers in cross-examination in the said case, the chief metropolitan magistrate said, “Every witness, when he comes to the witness box, is supposed to state facts in a truthful manner under oath. It is not his case that he did not know the sanctity of oath. He cannot be heard to say that he did not know the consequences of his testimony in a case.”
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