Perjury, intentionally or unintentionally, is considered a serious offence in most countries as it derails the basic goal of the justice system - discovering the truth - and is punishable. Most problems can be traced to the willingness of those under oath to tell lies, to forge documents, to erase, alter, deface, mutilate, evidence, etc. Even the famous and the powerful face consequences by committing perjury, this includes prosecution, prison, and impeachment, i.e., Olympic track star Marion Jones was imprisoned, US President Richard Nixon resigned facing impeachment, MP and prominent writer Geoffrey Archer was jailed, etc.
Giving false evidence is also a criminal offence in Pakistan punishable with life imprisonment or rigorous imprisonment for 10 years. However, laws punishing perjury are hardly ever applied and with no deterrent in place perjury goes on unchecked in our courts. In a telling statement on judicial reforms the Sindh High Court's (SHC) Registrar submitted a reply last year in Aug viz "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)." Lying in court is a dangerous criminal offence because it undermines the very purpose of the court, of the laws of the country and the judicial system at large: to deliver justice to the people and to society. Perjury also helps in the spread of corruption, giving rise to a malaise that eats away at the very substance of a State, its institutions and its people, especially in a developing country like Pakistan.
A noticeable change has taken place with Justice Asif Saeed Khosa taking oath as Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Jan 18. While the style of the new CJ is different than any of his predecessors the objective remains the same, i.e., bring the rule of law back into the system. The present CJ has taken up the eradication of perjury as one of the cornerstones of the criminal justice reform. He considers his personal contribution to mend the justice system that false witnesses should be punished. Shortly before taking up office he had declared his intention to build a "dam against fake witnesses and false testimonies". True to word, the SC released a detailed judgement on March 20 over the legal status of false testimony, ordering legal proceedings against any witness found resorting to deliberate falsehood. Authored by the CJ in reference to a case of false testimony given by Assistant Sub-Inspector Khizar Hayat, the judgement rejected false testimony 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 and the same shall be given effect to, followed and applied by all courts in letter and spirit". Even if only a small part of testimony is based on falsehood, the entire testimony would be rejected. The SC said the judicial system had suffered a lot as a consequence of deviation from the truth and it was about time that such a colossal wrong is rectified in all earnestness. Subsequently, legal proceedings were ordered against Khizar Hayat for committing perjury.
Bringing about such monumental change will take time but the process that has started in real earnest must not be allowed to fizzle out or be sabotaged by vested interest. Those committing perjury, particularly the prominent and powerful with access to smooth-talking expensive lawyers, must understand that lying under oath will put them behind bars. With the recent precedent being set one can hope the nation will not have to tolerate certified perjurers ruling over this nation's destiny. Let us start with those who have amassed expensive properties abroad and are the prime beneficiaries of fake accounts.
(The writer is a defence and security analyst)