What is the offence of causing disappearance of evidence of the offence, or giving false information to screen offender?

Question: What is the offence of causing disappearance of evidence of the offence, or giving false information to screen offender?

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Answer

Causing disappearance of evidence of the offence, or giving false information to screen offender is made punishable under Section 201. It states that:

Whoever, knowing or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed, causes any evidence of the commission of that offence to disappear, with the intention of screening the offender from legal punishment, or with that intention gives any information respecting the offence which he knows or believes to be false;

if a capital offence.— shall, if the offence which he knows or believes to have been committed is punishable with death, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine;

if punishable with imprisonment for life.— and if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment which may extend to ten years, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine;

if punishable with less than ten years’ imprisonment.— and if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for any term not extending to ten years, shall be punished with imprisonment of the description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one-fourth part of the longest term of the imprisonment provided for the offence, or with fine, or with both.

The section deals with two aspects. One is causing the disappearance of evidence and the second is giving false information about the offence.

The essential ingredients of the section are:

1. there must be an offence which has been committed;
2. a person should cause the disappearance of any evidence of the crime committed;
3. it should be done with the intention of screening or saving the culprit from punishment; or
4. a person must give false information about the offence;
5. he must be aware or have knowledge that the information given by him is false, and
6. it must be done with the intention of screening the offender or the culprit.

Punishment has been prescribed depending on the seriousness of the graveness of crime, in respect of which evidence has been caused to disappear or in respect of which false information has been given. The graver the offence, the more severe is the punishment.

In Hargovandas Devrajbhai Patel v. State of Gujarat [AIR 1998 SC 370], the accused were police officers who were alleged to have severely beaten up a person and caused the disappearance of evidence by causing the disappearance of the body. Later, a decomposed body was discovered in the jungle. However, the prosecution could not establish that the body recovered was that of the person, who was alleged to have been killed.

In fact, there was no evidence to even show in respect of what crime the deceased person was arrested in the first place. On the other hand, the accused stated that the person arrested on the stated day was another person and he was alive. In view of the lack of evidence to support the prosecution case of even homicide, the charge under s 201 was also not made out. The accused were acquitted.

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