Name:- Arpan Chakraborty.
Intern at ubAdvocate.
Email:- arpan.chakraborty292003@gmail.com
contact No.:- 9831156213.
To, respected sir.
Section 209 in The Indian Penal Code
209. Dishonestly making false claim in Court.—Whoever fraudulently or dishonestly, or with
intent to injure or annoy any person, makes in a Court of Justice any claim which he knows to
be false, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may
extend to two years, and shall also be liable to fine.
The essential ingredients of an offence under Section 209 are:
i. The accused made a claim;
ii. The claim was made in a Court of Justice;
iii. The claim was false, either wholly or in part;
iv. That the accused knew that the claim was false; and
v. The claim was made fraudulently, dishonestly, or with intent to injure or to annoy any
person.
A litigant makes a 'claim' before a Court of Justice for the purpose of Section 209 when he
seeks certain relief or remedies from the Court and a 'claim' for relief necessarily impasses
the ground for obtaining that relief.
The offence is complete the moment a false claim is filed in Court.
The word "claim" in Section 209 of the IPC cannot be read as being confined to the prayer
clause. It means the "claim" to the existence or non-existence of a fact or a set of facts on
which a party to a case seeks an outcome from the Court based on the substantive law and its
application to facts as established. To clarify, the word "claim" would mean both not only a
claim in the affirmative to the existence of fact(s) as, to illustrate, may be made in a plaint,
writ petition, or an application; but equally also by denying an averred fact while responding
(to the plaint/petition, etc.) in a written statement, counter affidavit, a reply, etc. Doing so is
making a "claim" to the non-existence of the averred fact. A false "denial", except when the
person responding is not aware, would constitute making a "claim" in Court under Section
209 IPC.
The word 'claim' for the purposes of Section 209 of the Penal Code would also include the
defence adopted by a defendant in the suit. The reason for criminalising false claims and
defences is that the plaintiff as well as the defendant can abuse the process of law by
deliberate falsehoods, thereby perverting the course of justice and undermining the authority
of the law.
The words "with intent to injure or annoy any person" in Section 209 means that the object of
injury may be to defraud a third party. It is not necessary that the party to whom the offender
intends to cause wrongful loss or annoyance should be the party against whom the suit was
instituted."
Arpan Chakraborty.
Intern at ubAdvocate.
