Unit 1 and 2 - Law of Crimes 1

section 2(24)

Offence

Offence means a thing* made punishable by this sanhita

the word thing under 2(24) refers to the consequence of human conduct or act or Actus Rheus

2(15)

Illegal

The Act will be illegal if it is an offence [2(24)] or if it is prohibited by law or grounds for civil action.

Illegal Omission

someone omits something that they are legally bound to do

what does illegal omission include?

Offences

Prohibited by law

Grounds for civil Action

Why is the word "illegal" added to Illegal omission?

The word "illegal" is added to omission as it is simply emphasised that in order to prove an offence by omission, the mere proof of omission will not be sufficient. By adding the word before omission in reference to an offence, it becomes easier for the prosecution to prove that the accused was legally bound to do something and he has omitted to do that.

Section 2(25)

"Omission" denotes as well as a series of omissions as a single omission;

Section 2(1)

an act or series of acts is referred to as "act."

Section 3(4)

words which refer to acts also extend to omissions

Section 2(14)

Injury: Under 2(14), injury means any harm whatever illegally caused * to any person in body, mind, reputation, or property.

*The word caused refers to the means employed to produce certain results.

Types of injury

Mind

Body

Property

Reputation

Essential ingredients of Injury

Whether the harm has been caused or not

Whether the harm has been caused by the accused or not

Illegal

section 2(33)

Defines Voluntarily

can be used to note the essentials of mens rea

Ingredients of Mens Rea

Intention

Knowledge

reason to believe

[Dishonestly—wrongful loss or gain (2(7)) not in 2(33) but is used in crimes against property]

Section 2(7)

Wrongful loss or wrongful gain (dishonesty)

Used as part of mens rea in crimes against property

Section 6 of BSA

How to prove intention:

Prior conduct, Motive, subsequent conduct, Opportunity

How to prove intention

Motive, prior conduct, subsequent conduct, opportunity

Relevant facts and circumstantial evidence can be utilized

Motive can be utilised to prove intention

Intention

Highest degree of state of mind:

certainity of manner and consequence of human conduct

Knowledge

Lesser degree of state of mind

certain about the manner of human conduct but not about the consequence

Reason to believe

Not certain about either manner or consequence of human conduct

Actus Rheus

Single act or series of act

act refers to human conduct, but Actus Rheus refers to CONSEQENCE OF HUMAN CONDUCT

what may be an actus rheus of one crime can be an act or human conduct for another crime

Intra Terretorial Judistriction

Inside/within India

Crime in India: BNS applies even if committed by a foreigner

Territory of India: Landmass/12 Nautical Miles (water) from baseline

Extra Terretorial Jurisdiction

Extradition treaty: Indian commits crime outside India—Tried In India

Any ship or airline registered in India (even in other territorial waters) are tried in India

Computer resource: hacking computer in India—tried in India

Indian Embassy also acts like Indian territory

According to Pheroze v. State of Maharashtra, if an Indian commits an offence outside India and it is not an offence under that foreign land's laws, he will still be tried in India (ex: Bigamy)

Judistriction

Legal power or athority, the area in which this power can be used

Section 18 of IPC

India defined under criminal law (Judistriction)

However, the BNS does not have a definition of its own

Section 1(3) of BNS

Section 1(3) of BNS makes the sanhita applicable to every person in any part of India.

EXCEPTION: Section 1(6) is a saving clause which states that the sanhita shall not apply where there is a special or local law to deal with such an offence

Section 1(4) of BNS

Section dealing with extraterretorial juristriction

Section 1(4) is a general provision of extraterretorial judistriction

Section 1(5) of BNS

Section dealing with extraterretorial juristriction

Section 1(5): deals with Specific safeguards with regard to extraterretorial judistriction

Section 1(6)

Section 1(6) is the exception to section 1(3)

It is a saving clause which states that the Sanhita shall not apply where there is a special or local law to deal with such an offence

Generalia Specialibus non derogent

General words do not repeal special law

Section 237(3) of constitution

Terretorial waters

High Sea (judistriction)

Place where no country can claim judistriction, so it depends on where the ship is registered and which flag is flying.

Section 108 of BSA

It is upon the burden of the accused to prove that he falls within the ambit of general defences to get aquittal (chapter 3)

Section 20

Child below 7 years of age gets total aquital (Doli Incapax)

doli incapax

A Latin maxim meaning "incapable of wrong"; the presumption that a child under 7 years of age cannot be held legally responsible for his or her actions and cannot be guilty of an offence

Section 21

A child between 7 and 12 years has partial immunity based upon facts and circumstances

Section 22

nothing (1) is an offence at the time of doing it (2) by reason (3) of unsoundness of mind, the person is incapable (4) of knowing the nature of the act or what he was doing was either wrong (5) or (read as and) contrary to law (6)

(1) Actus reus

(2) Act (doing that particular act)

(3) medical evidence (mental asylum)

(4) read along with (3) incapable of knowing nature of act

(5) Moral wrong

(6) legal wrong

Proving section 22

Bapu Allias Gujurat Singh v. State of Rajasthan (Judgement paragraph 3)

Medical evidence AND incapable of knowing the nature of act

OR

Medical evidence AND moral wrong AND legal wrong

Insane delusion

Under section 22

believes that he is going to be attacked by someone and hence, with complete unawareness of such real circumstances, he acts to defend himself and thus causes death or any other harm to someone

Defence as incapable of knowing the nature of the act or what he is doing is morally or legally wrongterm-0

Irrisistable impulse

It is the situation in which the accused is aware of the actual circumstances, but due to the extreme degree of temper, he is unable to control himself and thus causes death or any other harm

No defence under section 22

if death is caused, the accused can claim a defence under section 101, exception 1

Section 23

Involuntary intoxication

Valid defence

Incapable of judgement

Section 24

Voluntary Intoxication

Not a defense—Mens rea is present

Was supposed to be under BSA, however, the legislature has added it under Section 24 to maintain flow of thought

Section 14

Mistake of fact

Only applicable for persons in athourity

Act done by a person bound or by mistake of fact believeing himself to be bound by law

Section 17

Mistake of fact—justified under law

Ingredients for section 14 and 17

1. An act must be done by reason of mistake of fact

2. Act done with due cause and attention—Good faith 2(11)

3. He must believe himself to be bound (1) by law to do such an act

Section 17 ingredients are the same as above except (1) is replaced with justified instead

Section 15

Acting Judicially: Judge sentencing death penalty

Section 16

Persuant to the order—Hangman executing order

(only judicial acts as executive ones are covered under 14)

Section 18

Accident

Ingredients:

Accident/misfortune

without intention or knowledge

Lawful manner, with due care and caution