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N.S. Nandiesha Reddy v. Kavitha Mahesh

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 374Decided 3 Aug 2021
Civil Appeal No. 4821 of 2012
Chief Justice N.V. Ramana · Justice A.S. Bopanna · Justice Hrishikesh Roy

Background

In the 2008 Karnataka Assembly elections, Kavitha Mahesh alleged that the Returning Officer for the K.R. Pura constituency wrongly refused to accept her nomination papers, and an Election Petition succeeded, voiding the winning candidate N.S. Nandiesha Reddy's election. While deciding the petition, the trial judge also directed that the Returning Officer, Ashok Mensinkai, be prosecuted for perjury (Section 193 IPC), on the ground that his testimony about timings on the last day of filing nominations was inconsistent. Both the unseated candidate and the Returning Officer appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

By the time the appeal was heard, the five-year Assembly term had already run its course, so Reddy's appeal against being unseated was disposed of as infructuous. On the separate question of prosecuting the Returning Officer, the Supreme Court held that minor inconsistencies in a witness's recollection of exact timings, given years after the event, do not by themselves prove he deliberately and intentionally lied, which is the legal threshold for ordering a perjury prosecution. The Court noted no opportunity under Section 340 CrPC had been given to the officer, no definite finding of deliberate falsehood was recorded, and relevant video-recorded evidence was never examined by the trial court before ordering prosecution. It therefore set aside the direction to prosecute.

Lesson Learnt

A court cannot order someone to be criminally prosecuted for perjury merely because their testimony has some inconsistencies; the law requires clear proof that the person knowingly and intentionally lied, and that prosecuting them actually serves the interests of justice.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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