Issuing or signing false certificate
What this section does
This section makes it an offence to issue or sign a certificate required by law, or admissible in evidence by law, knowing or believing it to be false in any material point. The offender is treated as if they gave false evidence and punished accordingly.
AI-generated plain-language summary. For the binding statutory text, see India Code (official).
Quick reference
- Punishment
- Same as the punishment for giving false evidence (as applicable under the relevant section).
- Triable by
- Court determined by the applicable false-evidence punishment provision
- Cognizable
- Depends
- Bailable
- Depends
- Compoundable
- No
Ingredients (what prosecution must prove)
- The accused issued or signed a certificate
- The certificate was either required by law to be given or signed, or was one admissible in evidence by law relating to a fact
- The accused knew or believed the certificate to be false in a material point
Practitioner note
The falsity must be in a 'material point'; trivial inaccuracies would not attract liability. Punishment tracks the false-evidence provisions.
Derived from IPC s.197.
Read the official text
For the binding statutory text of BNS Section 234, refer to the Gazette of India or the India Code official website.
Why this matters
BNS Section 234 forms part of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita which replaced the Indian Penal Code 1860 on 1 July 2024. Any new filing, FIR, charge sheet, or bail application made on or after that date should cite the new section number. References to the old act in legacy documents remain valid for matters that arose before the changeover.