Supreme Court Clarifies IPC Section 195A as Cognisable Offence

In a significant judicial decision, the Supreme Court declared on Tuesday that threatening individuals to provide false evidence is a cognisable offence, underlining the necessity of clarity in the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This pronouncement addresses varying interpretations by different high courts due to a provision added in 2006.

Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe stressed that Section 195A IPC is separate from sections dealing with false evidence (Sections 193-196), marking its distinctiveness as a cognisable act. These offenses previously required a specific complaint procedure under section 195(1)(b)(i) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), categorizing them as non-cognisable offences.

The court clarified that offences under Section 195A involve intimidation to give false testimony, allowing immediate police action under Section 154 CrPC, unlike the delayed complaint process required for other sections. The amendment aims to rectify procedural ambiguities and reaffirms the police's authority to initiate investigations into such cognisable offences.