
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Refusing oath or affirmation when duly required by public servant to make it.—
Section
178
Punishment
Imprisonment up to Six Month(s) + Fine
Cognizable
Non-cognizable
Bailable
Bailable
Compoundable
Non-Compoundable (Refer to CrPC 320 for exceptions)
Trial Court
Any Magistrate
Bare Act Text
178. Refusing oath or affirmation when duly required by public servant to make it.—
Whoever refuses to bind himself by an oath or affirmation to state the truth, when required so to bind himself by a public servant legally competent to require that he shall so bind himself, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.

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Pramod Pal Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Pramod is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of StudyHub. He holds a Master's degree and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Geology, alongside more than 7+ years spent building and verifying competitive exam content for Indian aspirants. He leads StudyHub's editorial process across Indian Polity, the Constitution, Indian Economy, History, Geography, Science, and the platform's other subject areas — checking every article against primary sources (bare act text and Gazette notifications for constitutional topics, government and Economic Survey data for economy content, standard reference material elsewhere) and flagging it for re-verification whenever a relevant amendment, policy, or data update makes an earlier version outdated.






















