Section 340 of Crpc, prior to amendment in 1973, was section 479-A in the 1898 Code and it was mandatory under the pre amended provision to record a finding after the preliminary inquiry regarding the commission of offence where as in the 1973 code, the expression shall has been substituted by may meaning there by that under 1973 Code, it is not mandatory that the Court should record a finding.

What is now required is only recording the findings of the preliminary inquiry which is meant only to form an opinion of the court and that too , opinion on an offence which appears to have been committed, as to whether the same should be duly inquired in to. The Supreme Court is unable to appreciate the submission made by the senior counsel that the impugned order is liable to be quashed on the ground that there is no finding recorded by the court on the commission of offence.

Where there are two contradictory statements, the accused should be convicted of perjury only when they are found to be altogether irreconcilable. False identification - on the court s direction to hold an inquiry a Deputy Superintendent of Police had reported that the girl produced before Court was not the daughter of the petitioner.

By identifying the girl produced before the court as the daughter of the petitioner, the first responders had evidently given false evidence with a view to mislead the Court to believe that the girl produced was petitioners daughter and direction was issued to lodge a complaint against custodian.