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Section 282: Punishment for false averment in petition or declaration

Indian Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1925
Section 281 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 283

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 282

Section 282 establishes severe criminal penal liability for any person who knowingly makes false averments in a petition or declaration for probate or letters of administration.

  • Criminal Penal Offence: Applies to any person who makes any statement in a petition or declaration which is false, and which he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true.
  • Deemed Perjury Fiction: The offender is deemed to have committed an offence under Section 193 of the Indian Penal Code (Section 227 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita).
  • Punishable with Imprisonment: Punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Chiranjilal Shrilal Goenka v. Jasjit Singh (1993) 2 SCC 507: The Supreme Court held that the penal sanction under Section 282 enforces solemn truthfulness in probate petitions, deterring fabricated family genealogies and fraudulent asset schedules.
  • Basanti Devi v. Ravi Prakash (2008) 1 SCC 267: Affirmed that deliberate suppression of known legal heirs in a probate petition invites prosecution under Section 282 alongside grant revocation.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

Counsel must warn petitioners that concealing legal heirs or falsifying the death date under Section 282 is a non-compoundable criminal offence; caveators uncovering deliberate omissions should file a formal application under Section 340 CrPC / Section 379 BNSS for prosecution.

Section 281 All 391 Sections of Indian Succession Act Section 283