यं वा भूतमर्थं नाशयति अभूतमर्थं करोति तदष्टगुणं दण्डं दद्यात् ॥ कZ_०४.९.२० ॥
yaṃ vā bhūtamarthaṃ nāśayati abhūtamarthaṃ karoti tadaṣṭaguṇaṃ daṇḍaṃ dadyāt
Whoever destroys a fact as it exists, or manufactures a non-existent ‘fact’, shall be punished with an eightfold penalty.
State decisions rely on accurate ‘artha’ (facts, accounts, outcomes); punishing suppression/fabrication protects administrative cognition and prevents governance by falsified records.