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UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM & ENERGY STUDIES
College of Legal Studies
Indian Penal Code
STAGES OF CRIME
Submitted To:- Submitted By:-
Ms Kavya Salim Mohini Majumdar
B.tech ( E.T) L.L.B IPR
R
INDEX
- Abstarct ………………………………………………………
- Introduction…………………………………………………..
- History………………………………………………………...
- Definition of crime……………………………………………
- Fundamentals of crime……………………………………….
- Stages of crime………………………………………………...
- References ……………………………………………………..
INTRODUCTION
Criminal law is a body of rules and statutes that defines conduct prohibited by the state because it threatens and harms public safety and welfare and that establishes punishment to be imposed for the commission of such acts. Criminal law differs from civil law, whose emphasis is more on dispute resolution than in punishment. The term criminal law generally refers to substantive criminal laws. Substantive criminal laws define crimes and prescribe punishments. In contrast, Criminal Procedure describes the process through which the criminal laws are enforced. For example, the law prohibiting murder is a substantive criminal law. The manner in which state enforces this substantive law—through the gathering of evidence and prosecution—is generally considered a procedural matter. 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 the accomplishment.
HISTORY
The first civilizations generally did not distinguish between civil law and criminal law. The first written codes of law were designed by the Sumerians around 2100-2050 BC. Another important early code was the Code Hammurabi, which formed the core of Babylonian law. These early legal codes did not separate penal and civil laws. Of the early criminal laws of Ancient Greece only fragments survive, e.g. those of Solon and Draco. After the revival of Roman law in the 12th century, sixth-century Roman classifications and jurisprudence provided the foundations of the distinction between criminal and civil law in European law from then until the present time. The first signs of the modern distinction between crimes and civil matters emerged during the Norman invasion of England. The special notion of criminal penalty, at least concerning Europe, arose in Spanish Late Scolasticism, when the theological notion of God's penalty (poena aeterna) that was inflicted solely for a guilty mind, became transfused into canon law first and, finally, to secular criminal law. The development of the state dispensing justice in a court clearly emerged in the eighteenth century when European countries began maintaining police services. From this point, criminal law had formalized the mechanisms for enforcement, which allowed for its development as a discernible entity.
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 showed that he had a guilty mind. Actus Reus [Guilty Act Or Omission] - The third essential element of a crime is actus reus. In other words, some overt act or illegal omission must take place in pursuance of the guilty intention. Actus reus is the manifestation of mens rea in the external world. Prof. 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 the 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 the accomplishment. The stages can be explained as under-
1. Intention- Intention is the first stage in the commission of an offence and known as mental stage. Intention is the direction of conduct towards the object chosen upon considering the motives which suggest the choice. But the law does not take notice of an intention, mere intention to commit an offence not followed by any act, cannot constitute an offence. The obvious reason for not prosecuting the accused at this stage is that it is very difficult for the prosecution to prove the guilty mind of a person. 2. 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 a preparation is not enough to constitute the crime. Preparation has not been made punishable because in most of the cases the prosecution has failed to prove that the preparations in the question were made for the commission of the particular crime. 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 offence 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 offence is not punishable but in some exceptional cases preparation is punishable, following are some examples of such exceptional circumstances- · Preparation to wage war against the Government - Section 122, IPC 1860; · Preparation to commit depredation on territories of a power at peace with Government of India- Section 126, IPC 1860; · Preparation to commit dacoity- Section 399, IPC 1860; · Preparation for counterfeiting of coins or Government stamps- Sections 233-235, S. 255 and S. 257;
Cases:
- Abhayanand Mishra v State of Bihar
- The appellant applied to the Pantna University for permission to appear for the MA examination in English as a private candidate, representing that he was a graduate and that he had been teaching in a school.
- In support of his application, he attached forged certificates.
- Accepting the appellant’s statement the university gave permission and the admit card was dispatched.
- Meantime,information reached the university about the appellant being neither a graduate nor a teacher.
- On inquiry, it was found that the certificates were forged and that he had been debarred from taking any university examination.
- He was convicted of the offence of attempting to cheat.
- The supreme court held- submission of forged certificates to the university for permission to appear in examination amount to taking necessary steps towards attempting to commit offence. - State of Maharashtra v Mohd Yakub
- The accused was convicted by the trial court for attempting to smuggle silver out of india in contravention of the customs act 1962 abd the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947.
- The sessions court in appeal acquitted the accused on the ground that the facts proved by the prosecution
- fell short of establishing that the accused had attempted to export silver in contravention to Law , because the fact proved, showed no more than that the accused had only made preparation for bringing this silver to the creek and had not yet commited any act amounting to a direct movementy towards the comission of the offence.
- Supreme court – an attempt is a mixed question of law and fact, depending on the circumstances of the particular case. - DPP v Stone
4. Accomplishment Or Completion- The last stage in the commission of an offence is its accomplishment or completion. If the accused succeeds in his attempt to commit the crime, he will be guilty of the complete offence and if his attempt is unsuccessful he will be guilty of an attempt only. For example, A fires at B with the intention to kill him, if B dies, A will be guilty for committing the offence of murder and if B is only injured, it will be a case of attempt to murder. REFERENCE
