Bombay HC holds Ministry of Defense Answerable for Allegations of Perjury

In this recent case, Mr. Haresh Milani, a renowned builder of Pune, filed an Application under Section 340 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) on the grounds that the Defense Ministry has made several false statements on oath. Hence, the seminal issue in the case was whether the Ministry of Defense and its Officers face charges of perjury?

Brief Facts of the case

The case at hand pertained to the dispute between the builder Mr. Haresh Milani and the Defense Ministry. The land in dispute is located at Viman Nagar, Pune. The claim of the Defense Estate Officer in the case was that the disputed land was acquired by Defense and therefore, they are the owners. A Suit was accordingly registered in District Court, Pune by Mr. Milani wherein, the Collector was summoned to produce the records of the disputed land.

The Collector submitted a report in the Court which made it unambiguously clear that the land was never acquired by the Ministry of Defense. The Petition challenging the order of inquiry passed by the District Court, Pune was filed by the Petitioner the before High Court and then before Supreme Court both of which were dismissed.

Thereafter, an amendment in the Suit before District Court, Pune was sought by Mr. Milani for declaring him as the owner of the disputed land which was allowed by the Court. The order allowing the amendment was challenged by Petitioner before Bombay High Court.

In the case, the Petitioner took the stand that the land has been acquired by them. In view thereof, Mr. Milani filed an application under Section 340 of Criminal Procedure Code and prayed that the said Application alleging the offences of perjury should be decided first.

Counsel Nilesh Ojha appearing for Mr. Milani argued that a case i.e. Writ, Suit or any litigation which is based on false statements and false affidavit, the allegations of falsity should be enquired before the case is decided on merits as any person approaching the Court with unclean hands should not be heard on merits and should be thrown out at any stage of litigation.

Bombay High Court

Application under Section 340 of Criminal Procedure Code Should Be Decided First– Bombay High Court made it clear that the Writ Petition filed by the Petitioner should not be heard till Application under Section 340 of Criminal Procedure Code is decided as the Applicant builder has sought prosecution against the officers of Central Government alleging the offences of perjury i.e. making false statement on oath before a Court. After hearing both the parties, the Bombay High Court has held that the Application Section 340 of Criminal Procedure Code filed by Mr. Milani will be heard before hearing the Writ Petition filed by officers of Central Government.

The case has now been listed for hearing on June 20, 2018.

The intriguing concern raised in the case is that the Central Government may face enquiry on charges of perjury which if proved, will shatter the faith of the common masses from the functioning of the Defence Ministry which in turn holds the highest responsibility of protecting the nation.