‘Lying witness to be universal liar’

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ruled that a witness found by a court to have resorted to a deliberate falsehood on a material aspect be proceeded against for committing perjury without any latitude.

The apex court in its judgment ordered courts not to allow any leniency to those resorting to false testimonies and to reject testimonies if even a part of them were based on lies. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, released a detailed judgment on Wednesday in a case of ASI Khizar Hayat, who had given a false testimony in a murder case in Narowal in 2007. On February 13, the court while hearing a murder case occurring in Narowal in 2007 had acquitted the accused Muhammad Ilyas and had summoned ASI Khizar Hayat for giving false testimony in the case.

Muhammad Ilyas appellant and some others had allegedly ambushed Muhammad Asif in 2007 in village Bathanwala in the Rayya Khas Police Station limits, district Narowal, and had then fired at and killed him in the backdrop of a motive based on a quarrel between the parties about one year prior to the present occurrence.

With these allegations, the appellant and his co-accused were booked in case FIR no. 152 registered at the above mentioned police station during the same night and after a regular trial the appellant was convicted by the trial court for an offence under Section 302(b), PPC and was sentenced to death and to pay compensation.

However, the appellant challenged his conviction and sentence before the High Court through an appeal which was dismissed to the extent of his conviction for the offence under Section 302(b), PPC but the same was partly allowed to the extent of his sentence of death which was reduced by the High Court to imprisonment for life. Hence, the present appeal by leave of this Court granted on 26.6.13.

The Supreme Court had allowed the appeal of the petitioner Muhammad Ilyas and had set aside his conviction and sentence after acquitting him of the charge by extending the benefit of doubt to him. The court had held that the prosecution had failed to prove its case against the appellant beyond reasonable doubt and directed his release from the jail forthwith if not required to be detained in connection with any other case.

The court had observed that Khizar Hayat (PW8) had been disbelieved by the High Court and his testimony had been ruled out of consideration because on the basis of some official record produced before the trial court it had been established that in his capacity as an official in the police department Khizar Hayat (PW8) was present on his duty at a police station situated in Lahore, ie hundreds of miles away from the place of occurrence. The chief justice had also directed district and sessions judge Narowal to proceed against Khizar Hayat in accordance with law as he gave false testimony. “From today we are starting the journey towards truth,” chief justice remarked and ruled that now the whole testimony will be disregarded if any part of it found to be false.

On Wednesday, the verdict authored by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa 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.

“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,” says the judgment.

The court 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. It directed its office to send a copy of this order to the registrars of all the high courts in the country with a direction to send a copy of the same to every judge and magistrate within the jurisdiction of each high court handling criminal cases at all levels for their information and guidance. The court observed that a judicial system which permits deliberate falsehood is doomed to fail and a society which tolerates it is destined to self-destruct, adding that truth is the foundation of justice and justice is the core and bedrock of a civilized society and thus any compromise on truth amounts to a compromise on a society’s future as a just, fair and civilized society.

“Our judicial system has suffered a lot as a consequence of the permissible deviation from the truth and it is about time that such a colossal wrong may be rectified in all earnestness,” the verdict ruled and declared 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 court ruled that Islam not only enjoins giving testimony, it also forbids concealing it because concealing evidence is something that is disapproved in Islam and detested by nature. “Giving false testimony has many evils as it supports falsehood against truth and promotes injustice and aggression against justice. It also effaces fairness and equity and poses danger to public safety and security, the judgment said.

On the other hand, the chief justice earlier Wednesday constituted a seven-member bench to determine the definition of “terrorism”. The top judge observed that cases that fall under terrorism charges have remained ambiguous since 1997, as he issued orders to constitute a larger bench to determine the definition of the word.