The Supreme Court in James Kunjwal v. State of Uttarakhand,^[1] while quashing a perjury proceeding against a litigant, specified the following yardsticks to be fulfilled for initiating perjury proceedings^[2]: (i) the Court should be of the prima facie opinion that there exists sufficient and reasonable ground to initiate proceedings against the person who has allegedly made a false statement(s); (ii) such proceedings should be initiated, when doing the same is ‘expedient in the interests of justice to punish the delinquent’ and not merely because of inaccuracy in statements that may be innocent/immaterial; (iii) there should be ‘deliberate falsehood on a matter of substance’; (iv) the Court should be satisfied that there is a reasonable foundation for the charge, with distinct evidence and not mere suspicion; and (v) proceedings should be initiated in exceptional circumstances.

[1] James Kunjwal v. State of Uttarakhand, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1943.

[2] Section 193 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’).