One of the major companions and helpers of corruption an illness eating away the substance of the Pakistani state, its institutions and its people is perjury. The meaning of perjury is to lie in court under oath, the giving of false evidence is already a criminal offence in Pakistan punishable by law. According to the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), a person giving or fabricating false evidence is liable to be punished with imprisonment for life or with rigorous imprisonment, extending ten years, and also liable to being fined. In capital cases punishment for false testimony can extend to life imprisonment. So, one should mean that the offence as such has been identified by the judicial system and relief has been meted out.
That is patently a false impression! The laws punishing perjury in are hardly ever applied to punish liars in court in Pakistan and therefore, in practice they do not act as a deterrent to a witness who comes to court from telling lies. In August 2018 the Pakistani media reported that the SHCs Registrar in a reply submitted in a case regarding judicial reforms stated the Sindh High Court (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). With the laws meant to contain perjury being not implemented by the courts and judges, this encourages people to give false evidence, in some cases for money or to manipulate documents that would serve as evidence against them. Среди всего многообразия онлайн казино, которое предлагает нам глобальная сеть интернет, стоит обратить внимание на казино pin up сайт вход На данном сайте присутствует стартовый бонус в 25 тысяч рублей и бонус при первом пополнении счета. Также присутствуют турниры и розыгрыши с ценными призами, что поможет приумножить баланс. Стоит отметить, что данное казино не скупится на проведение акций, они проводятся на постоянной основе. Данный фактор привлекает новых игроков.
This has been a practice not only for the last few years but for many years. The public realizes that there is a good chance to get away with lies in court and even if the lies are detected there is no punishment to be feared. The villagers that lied against Aasia Bibi in court are responsible for her staying in jail for many years, her children had to grow up without their mother. Since they were asking that Aasia Bibi be put to death, should they face the same maximum penalty on being convicted for perjury? Nawaz Sharif and family were ready to face accountability in court because they were quite confident that while telling lies, faking documents and hiding the truth they will be able to whitewash their conduct. Their spokespersons regularly lie blatantly through their teeth, these includes some persons whom I once believed to be honourable and above board. They have sold their conscience for their public positions.
Lying in court is an especially dangerous criminal offence because it undermines the very purpose of the court, of the laws of the country and the judiciary system at large: to bring justice to the people and to society. To build a just society has always been a central endeavour of any state in history; and the creditability of an administration and government that cannot or does not deliver justice is vanishing while weakening the state and its institutions. The honest citizens of the country feel discouraged to go to court because they are not sure that justice will prevail and the crooks willingly to court because they are quite sure that they can use the court to manage things to their satisfaction. The very fact that one goes to court with the intention to hide, misrepresent and deny one’s real dealings is a sign that our courts and judiciary are not respected the way they should be in order for them to be able to deliver justice.
The style of the new Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa may be different from his predecessor, the objective remains the same, bringing the rule of law back into the system. Without this governance is a sham and democracy of the Nawaz Sharif-Zardari kind a hypocrisy. Justice Khosa has taken up the eradication of perjury as one of the cornerstones of criminal justice reform and of his personal contribution to mend the judicial system in Pakistan. Shortly before taking up the mantle of chief justice, he had emphatically declared his intention to build a dam against fake witnesses and false testimonies. More recently he observed in court God willing, the era of quickly dismissing false statements will return. He promised that the law providing punishment for perjury from now onwards would be implemented in letter and spirit. He said that a liar would not to be able to stand witness in any case in future and if a part of statement is based on perjury, the whole statement would be dismissed. Before becoming CJP Justice Khosa had repeatedly said that all judges who handed out sentences on false verdicts would be held accountable If implemented this would surely be a step in the right direction. It will be a difficult task to put this through especially in the lower courts in the country and one will need some prominent show cases to teach witnesses that lying in court is not advisable. Fake witnesses would soon be behind bars and the entire system will be back on the right track as soon as some purposes are sent to life to prison.
CJ Khosa reportedly said something else important as well. He said that the people lie as a habit. This is an extremely true and important observation made by the CJ. Lying in court is only the tip of the iceberg. Lying over the years has become something like a sport or a habit everywhere in daily life starting from childhood. Students miss classes and tell lies about their grandmothers and aunties that expired in the village. They cheat in exams which is a formidable lie and it is prevalent already in children. The consequence is the flood of fake degrees that we are faced with, fake news in the media, fake bank accounts and so on. Lies have intruded into the institutions and are undermining them. They are damaging the character of our people starting from childhood. Ethical behaviour that should be taught in schools and families is compromised. Truth and truthfulness, justice, equity and fairness have become the victims not only in court but in all spheres of society.
To build a just society is one of the central purposes if not the central purpose of a state. Because truth and justice are closely connected and interdependent Islam has established truthfulness as a central characteristic of a Muslim. But today this seems to be forgotten. The discussion around Articles 62 and 63 of our Constitution and the demands that we heard to delete them from this fundamental law of our country are a clear sign that being truthful is not regarded as a central value any more.
There is need for more change than only in the courts of law. The first step would be to apply the laws that are already in place and apply them rigorously at all levels of the judiciary. A much better system of law enforcers that can expose fake or manipulated documents has to be put in place. But at the end of the day laws can only bring justice if the people accept those laws as just. The main change, therefore, has to be made in the minds of the people. The connection between lies and injustice is a major fact that has to be considered and taken up in addition to the courts in our educational system and the media. Laws alone do not change the mind set of people. What is needed is a society in which liars are facing social boycott instead of appreciation for their cleverness. Imagine that a liar exposed would really face contempt at home, in social circles and at work. The lesson would be no doubt impressive not only for the person alone, but his example would impact others around him. To achieve such a change in society will surely take time but the process has to be started now especially in the interest of the younger generation that has to understand the evil consequences of lies.
