न अनृतवचनदोषो जीवनं चेत् तदधीनम्॥ गौतमसूत्रे॥

I was just fingering through a book.. Gautama Dharmasutra.. the laws of conduct.. enunciated by Sage Gautama.. one of the prime lawgivers of ancient India..

He is asserting that if a person is sworn to give true and correct statement as a witness and if it is found that he did not state the truth, he incurs great sin and is also punishable by royal law

But he adds

न अनृतवचनदोषो जीवनं चेत् तदधीनम्॥

गौतमसूत्रे॥

na anṛtavacanadoṣo jīvanaṁ cet tadadhīnam||

gautamasūtre||

The sin or offence of not uttering truth will not bring sins or punishments if such action was entirely in the context that the life of a person depended on such testimony..

Our ancient lawmakers were very merciful..

The present law would punish a person perjury if he lied before a magistrate or a judge.. or any judicial authority

The only exception in most cases is that one cannot be forced to give a testimony against himself .. Of course the situation may be different when he is confronted by facts and evidence

And a spouse cannot be forced to testify against his partner on any matter that would implicate the latter and that happened during the subsistence of the marriage.. There are rare exceptions to this too

But Gautama travels miles ahead.. if ones own life or the life of any other person depended on the testimony of a person, the testator had a choice to decline to tell the truth..