Delhi High Court Warns Against Misuse Of Perjury Pleas To 'Arm-Twist' Opponents, Dismisses S.340 CrPC Application

The Delhi High Court has cautioned against the growing misuse of perjury proceedings, observing that applications under Section 340 CrPC are increasingly being filed to “arm-twist” opponents and delay trials, rather than to address genuine instances of false evidence.Justice Subramonium Prasad made the observation while dismissing an application seeking initiation of perjury proceedings against a defendant in a family property dispute.The case arose out of a suit for partition and rendition of accounts among siblings following the death of their father. During the course of proceedings, the plaintiffs moved an application under Section 340 CrPC alleging that the defendant had made false statements on oath and filed forged documents in affidavits disclosing inherited assets.The Court noted that the allegations were primarily based on claimed inconsistencies between the affidavits and the material on record. However, it held that such contradictions, by themselves, do not meet the threshold required to initiate perjury proceedings.“The Plaintiff No.1 has only pointed out at certain contradictions between the affidavits and the material on record. In the opinion of this Court, the allegations per se cannot attract the ingredients under Section 340 of the CrPC which prescribes for initiation of an inquiry into an offence under Section 195(1)(b) of the CrPC. Section 195(1)(b) of the CrPC deals with prosecution of offences relating to documents given in evidence, i.e., the offences punishable under Section 193 to 196, 199, 200, 205 to 211, 228, 463, 471, 475, 476 of the IPC. In the opinion of this Court, these offences are not made out at this juncture,” it said.The Court added that falsity of the statements made in the affidavits will have to be established in the present trial. It opined that Plaintiffs can always initiate proceedings under Section 340 CrPC if material surfaces during the course of the trial. “This Court is not inclined to initiate parallel proceedings one under Section 340 of the CrPC and one under the present suit for ascertaining the correctness or otherwise of the additional affidavits filed in this Court at this juncture,” it said.Before parting, the Court remarked,“This Court is observing that now a practice has been made by the parties of filing applications under Section 340 of the CrPC only with an idea of arm-twisting the other side or putting pressure and also to delay the trial…The instant application is filed only with an intent to derail this Court from proceeding further with the matter and also to harass the Defendant No. 1.”As such, it dismissed the application. The main suit will now proceed before the Court on August 04.Appearance: Plaintiff-in-person; Ms. Shruti Kapur, Advocate for D-1Case title: Nisha Chandola & Anr v. Manoj Sharma And AnrCitation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 321Case no.: CS(OS) 246/2023Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Warns Against Misuse Of Perjury Pleas To 'Arm-Twist' Opponents, Dismisses S.340 CrPC Application

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