Legal Provisions of Section 167 of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury:
This section deals with the liability of a public servant for framing or translating an incorrect document with intent to cause injury. It states that whoever, being a public servant, and being charged with the preparation or translation of any document or electronic record as such public servant, frames, prepares or translates that document or electronic record in such a manner as he knows to be incorrect or believes to be incorrect, with the intention of causing, or with the knowledge that there is a likelihood that any person may suffer, injury thereby, shall be punished with simple or rigorous imprisonment for a term extending up to three years, or with fine, or with both.
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Charged with
The expression ‘charged with’ means expressly appointed or entrusted with, that is to say, that since he is a public servant he has been given a legal responsibility to frame or translate a document in his capacity as a public servant.
Mens rea
ADVERTISEMENTS:
If there is an honest mistake on his part while making, preparing or translating a document or electronic record this section does not apply. The prosecution must establish that he knew or believed the document to be incorrect while framing or translating it, and that he had an intention thereby to cause injury to any person, or that he knew that his act was likely to cause injury to any person.
The Supreme Court has held that where a transfer application was filed before a district magistrate by an accused after which the magistrate of the first class before whom his case was pending inserted some false orders unfairly on that case, the charge under this section had been framed correctly.
In another case, where a minister recorded reasons for issuing certain directions with respect to a contract, it was held that this could not be held to be a framing of a document under this section.
Where the accused made entries which were serious under estimation and undervaluation in records with respect to the number of trees actually uprooted from a land, and covered even the illegal felling of trees, with the knowledge that the same would cause huge wrongful loss to the government, it was held by the Supreme Court that the High Court had rightly convicted the accused under this section.
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The offence under this section is cognizable, bailable and non-compoundable, and is triable by magistrate of the first class.