Crime in Indian Penal Code
In this article, we are going to
discuss a detailed study of crimes-its meaning and definition, elements of crime,
stages of crime, etc.
Introduction
Crime is the intentional commission of
an act usually considered socially harmful or dangerous and specifically
defined, prohibited, and punishable under criminal law.
Crime is not just a wrong against any
person but is also a wrong committed against society or a public wrong and it
includes acts like murder, rape, theft, etc. It is not a case that arises out
of the differences between two parties but is a case between the wrongdoer
(offender) and the state.
Crime and its
meaning
An action committed or omitted, that
constitutes an offense and is punishable by law, is a crime. A crime is an
unlawful act that is forbidden and punished by the State or the law. In other
words, anything that is injurious to the public welfare is a crime.
In legal terms, crime is human conduct
that society generally disapproves of. But in the modern sense, crime is any
act that is prohibited by the penal law in force, and the result of this is
punishment.
Definition of
Crime
According to Bentham, “Offenses
are whatever the legislature has prohibited for good or bad reasons.”
According to Austin, “A
wrong which is pursued at the discretion of the injured party and his
representatives is a civil injury; a wrong which is pursued by the sovereign or
his subordinates is a crime.”
Blackstone, in his “Commentaries on The Laws of
England,” has defined crime as “an act committed or omitted in violation of a
public law either forbidding or commanding it.”
He also defined crime as a “violation
of the public rights and duties due to the whole community, considered as a
community, in its social aggregate capacity.”
The editor of Blackstone, Stephen,
has made slight changes in the definition and presented it as “a crime is a
violation of a right, considered in reference to the evil tendency of such a
violation as regards the community at large.”
According to Keeton, “a
crime would seem to be any undesirable act which the State finds it most
convenient to correct by the institution of proceedings for the infliction of a
penalty, instead of leaving the remedy to the discretion of some injured
person.”
According to Kenny, “Crimes
are wrongs whose sanction is punitive and is in no way remissible by any
private person; but is remissible by the crown alone if remissible at
law.” (Here, the word ‘sanction’ means punishment, and the word
‘remissible’ means to be pardoned by a crown.)
Obligatory Elements
of Crime
There are four elements that
constitute a crime, these are: -
· Human being
· Mens rea or guilty intention
· Actus reus or illegal act or
omission
· Injury to another human being
Human Being-
The first element requires that the
wrongful act must be committed by a human being who must be under the legal
obligation to act in a particular manner and should be a fit subject for
awarding appropriate punishment.
Mens Rea-
The second essential element of a
crime is mens rea, evil intent, or guilty mind. There can be no crime of any
nature without mens rea or an evil mind. The basic requirement of the principle
mens rea is that the accused must have been aware of those elements in his act
which make the crime with which he is charged.
There is a well-known maxim in this
regard, i.e., “actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” which means that
the guilty intention and guilty act together constitute a crime. It comes from
the maxim that no person can be punished in a proceeding of criminal nature
unless it can be shown that he had a guilty mind.
Actus Reus-
The third element of the crime is
actus reus. The criminal intent to be punishable must be obvious in some
voluntary act or omission.
Actus reus is the manifestation of
mens rea in the external world. Professor Kenny was the first writer to use the
term ‘actus reus’. He has defined the term thus- “such result of human conduct
as the law seeks to prevent”.
Injury-
The fourth requirement of a crime is
injury to another person or to society at large. The injury should be illegally
caused to any person in body, mind, reputation, or property as according to
Section 44 of IPC, 1860 the injury denotes any harm whatever illegally caused
to any person in body, mind, reputation or property.
Stages of Crime
If a person commits a crime voluntarily or after preparation the doing of it involves four different stages. In every crime, there is first intention to commit it, secondly, preparation to commit it, thirdly, attempt to commit it, and fourthly accomplishment.
Criminal
Intention – First Stage of Crime
The intention is the first stage in
the commission of an offense and is known as the mental stage. But the law does
not take notice of an intention, as to be a crime, both the intention and the
conduct must be present.
As the famous saying goes “the
devil himself knows not the intention of a man”. Since it is hard to know
the intentions of a man, a criminal liability at this stage cannot be drawn.
The intention is a person’s will to focus
on a certain action. E.g., A stabs B, then the intention is clear that A wanted
to kill B
Preparation-
Preparation is the second stage in the
commission of a crime. It means to arrange the necessary measures for the commission
of the intended criminal act. Intention alone or the intention followed by preparation
is not enough to constitute the crime.
There are numerous situations where
the prosecution fails to establish that preparations for a specific crime were
actually used to carry it out. So there has not yet been an offense, and as a
result, there is no punishment for the offense at this point.
Illustration-
If A purchases a pistol and keeps the
same in his pocket duly loaded in order to kill his bitter enemy B, but does
nothing more. A has not committed any offense as still he is at the stage of
preparation and it will be impossible for the prosecution to prove that A was
carrying the loaded pistol only for the purpose of killing B.
Preparation When
Punishable-
Generally, preparation to commit any offense
is not punishable but in some exceptional cases preparation is punishable,
following are some examples of such exceptional circumstances-
1. Preparation to
wage war against the Government - Section 122, IPC 1860.
2. Preparation to
commit depredation on territories of power at peace with the Government of
India- Section 126, IPC 1860.
3. Preparation to
commit dacoity- Section 399, IPC 1860.
4. Preparation for
counterfeiting of coins or Government stamps- Sections 233-235, S. 255, and
S. 257.
5. Possessing
counterfeit coins, false weight or measurement, and forged documents. Mere
possession of these is a crime and no possessor can plead that he is still at
the stage of preparation- Sections 242, 243, 259, 266, and 474.
Attempt – Third
Stage of Crime
An attempt is a direct movement
towards the commission of a crime after the preparation is made.
According to English law, a person may
be guilty of an attempt to commit an offense if he does an act that is more
than merely preparatory to the commission of the offense; and a person will be
guilty of attempting to commit an offense even though the facts are such that
the commission of the offense is impossible.
Shortly, there are no exceptions to
this rule, and even if the circumstances are such that committing the crime
would be impossible, someone might be found guilty of trying to do so under
English law by doing an act that goes beyond simple preparation.
There are three essentials of an
attempt: -
a. Guilty intention to commit an offense;
b. Some act done towards the
commission of the offense;
c. The act must fall short of
the completed offense.
In the case of Narayandas vs.
State of West Bengal, the defendant, had undeclared notes sewn into his pants
and was detected by the customs official. The Court ruled that it had passed
the point of preparation. According to the Sea Customs Act, attempting to
smuggle cash notes out of the country is a crime.
Thus, an attempt to commit a crime is
often termed a “preliminary crime”. An attempt to commit a crime is
punishable under the Code. It has been provided under various provisions for
specific crimes.
- Section 121 – Attempt to wage a war.
- Section 131 – Attempt to seduce a
soldier, sailor, or airman from his duty.
- Section 307 – Attempt to murder.
- Section 308 – Attempt to culpable
homicide.
- Section 309 – Attempt to suicide;
- Section 326B – Attempt to throw suicide;
- Section 356 – Attempt to commit theft;
- Section 357 – Attempt to wrongfully
confine a person;
- Section 393 – Attempt to commit robbery;
- Section 397 – Robbery or dacoity with an
attempt to cause death or grievous hurt;
Accomplishment –
Final Stage of Crime
It is the last step of the criminal
act. In this stage, the offender has completed all three primary phases, i.e.,
the steps of intention, preparation, and attempted offense.
If the accused succeeds in his attempt
to commit the crime, he will be guilty of the complete offense and if his
attempt is unsuccessful, he will be guilty of an attempt only.
Illustration-
A fire at B with the intention to kill
him, if B dies, A will be guilty of committing the offense of murder and if B
is only injured, it will be a case of attempt to murder.
Case laws
According to Ravula
Hariprasada Rao v State, a person cannot be held guilty for an offense if
they had no intention to conduct it in the first place.
According to the ruling in Kartar
Singh v State of Punjab, unless and until it is clearly excluded from the
legislation by words or required implications, the notion of mens rea must be
read into the statute.
Conclusion
In the eyes of society, committing a
crime is a disgraceful act that shocks the public conscience. For the most
part, criminal law is concerned with protecting and preserving specific
essential societal values and institutions. The Indian Penal Code (IPC)
specifies a set of standards for human behavior.
The Indian Penal Code has several
exceptions to the general rule that certain activities are criminal and
punished. It prohibits conduct that inexcusably shows contempt to another
person or causes or threatens to cause severe damage to that person.
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