STAGES OF CRIME
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SYNOPSIS
A. A. Introduction
B. B. Stages of crime
1. Intention
2. Preparation
3. Attempt
4. Commission
C. C. Case law
D. D. Conclusion
A. INTRODUCTION
When a penal statute prescribes punishment for an act or illegal omission, it becomes a crime There is no satisfactory definition acceptable to all and applicable in all situations. Indian Penal Code is a basic criminal law which came into force on 1st January 1862 in India. It is a general and substantive criminal law operative throughout the country. Criminal law provides the ultimate means to society for the protection of its individuals and institutions. The liability of the offender is to be determined by the court. The stages of crime are grouped into four categories.
B. STAGES OF CRIME
Every offence before it is committed passes
through the following four stages:
1. Intention
2. Preparation
3. Attempt
4. Commission
1) Intention
In these four stages, the first stage is
considered to be too tender and so it is not punishable This is also evident
from the famous Latin Maxim "Actus non facit reum nisi sit rea"
which indicate suggests that to constitute a crime there must be both actus
reus and mens rea i.e. act and guilty mind. The mere act
is not punishable unless it is done with a particular intention.
Mens rea or guilty mind alone without an actus
reum or guilty act and vice versa according to the maxim do not constitute a
crime. Bowen L. J. said, "Devil doth not know what is running in man hind".
Therefore, if intention alone is made punishable, there will be great
difficulty. The concerns mens rea is very wider, to includes intention,
knowledge, motive, recklessness and negligence etc.
Intention - Intention means a purpose or desire to bring
about a contemplated result or foresight at certain consequences that will
follow from the conduct of a person. For instance, if a man pushes a boy from a
high tower or cuts off his head, it is obvious that he desires the victim’s
death.
Motive-
Intention must be distinguished from motive. Motive is the reason or ground of action,
whereas intention is the violation or active desire to do an act. In other
words, the intention is an operation of a will directing an open act, while
motive is the feeling that prompts the operation of will the ulterior object of
the person willing, eg. 'A' kills 'B'. The intention was to cause death and the
motive was to remove political rivalry thus motive is an ulterior object for
which the act is done. One can find out the motive of a person by asking why he
did that act and the intention of a person by asking how he did it. Motive is
not a basis for criminal liability - Criminal law takes into account only a
man's intention and not his motive. A good motive will not render it lawful, which
is in fact a crime. If a man steals food in order to feed his starving child,
the act amounts to theft, though the fact that motive behind the act is to save
the life.
Knowledge- Intention is also distinguishable from
knowledge. An intention to commit the offence may be inferred from knowledge,
though, at times, intention and knowledge merged into each other. Knowledge is
the awareness of the consequences of an act. A man may be aware of the
consequences of the act, though he may not intend to bring them about.
E.g. A got attacked by a tiger. calls out to B
to fire in order to save him, B fired and caused the death of A. B is not
liable for A's death because the act was not intentional.
Recklessness - It is a state of mind of a person who
foresees the possible consequences of his conduct, but acts without any
intention or desire to bring them out. In other words, recklessness is an
attitude of mental indifference to obvious risk.
E.g. Driving at high speed through a narrow
and a crowded lane is a reckless act. E.g Salman Khan caused death by driving a car with
recklessness.
Negligence- Negligence is used to denote want of care and
precautions, which a reasonable man would have taken under the particular
circumstances of the case. It is a state of mind of a man, S. who pursues a
course of conduct without adverting at all to its consequences. In crimes,
negligence, imp unlike in the case of torts, is not the basis of liability in
general. It is only in a few cases that IPC fixes criminal liability on the
ground of negligence, for instance, if a man affects the life, or personal safety
of others, such as in case of rash and negligent driving, etc.
2) Preparation.
The second stage in the commission of the offence
is preparation. This stage is also considered tender and is not made punishable
as a general rule except in three specific cases. The preparation consists in
devising means for the commission of the offence. The preparation consists of
devising or arranging means or measures necessary for the commission of an
offence. Preparation is remotely connected with the offence. Mere preparation
is not punishable as a general rule except when the preparation is made.
1. to wage war against the Government of India
S.122:
2. to commit depredation on the territories of
any power at peace with the Government of India S.126:
3. to commit dacoity S.399.
1. S.122. Collecting arms, etc. with intention
of waging war against the Government of India
Whoever collects men, arms or ammunition or
otherwise prepares to wage war with the intention of either waging or being
prepared to wage war against the Government of India, shall be punished with
imprisonment for life or imprisonment of either description for a term not
exceeding ten years and shall also be liable to fine.
2. S.126. Committing depredation on
territories of Power at peace with the Government of India
Whoever commits depredation or makes
preparation to commit depredation (destruction). on the territories of any
power in alliance or at peace with the Government of India, shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years,
and shall also be liable to fine and to forfeiture of any property used or
intended to be used in committing such depredation, or acquired by such
depredation.
S.399: Making preparation to commit dacoity
Whoever makes, any preparation for committing
dacoity, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may
extend to men years, and shall also be liable to a fine.
3.) Attempt
This is such a developed stage that it is
punishable under S. 511 of the Indian Penal Code An attempt to commit a crime
is to be carefully distinguished from an intention to commit and from the
preparation made for the commission of that crime. An attempt is a direct
movement towards the commission after preparation has been made. According to
Stephen an attempt to commit a crime s an act done with intent to commit a
crime and forming part of a series of acts, which would constitute its actual
commission if it were not interrupted. An attempt to commit an offence can be
said to be when the preparations are complete and the culprit begins to do
something to commit the offence and which is a step towards the commission of
the offence. In other words. an attempt is a direct movement toward the
commission of an offence after the preparations are made.
S. 511: Punishment for attempting to commit
offences punishable with imprisonment for life or another imprisonment
Whoever attempts to commit an offence
punishable by this Code with imprisonment for life or imprisonment or to cause
such an offence to be committed, and in such attempt does any act towards the
commission of the offence, shall, where no express provision is made by this
Code for the punishment of such attempt, be punished with imprisonment of any
description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one half
of the imprisonment for life or, as the case may be. one half of the longest
term of imprisonment provided for that offence, or with such fine as is
provided for the offence, or with both.
Illustrations
1. A makes an attempt to steal some jewels by
breaking open a box and finds after so opening the box, that there is no jewel
in it. He has done an act towards the commission of theft and therefore is
guilty under this Section.
2. A makes an attempt to pick the pocket of Z by
thrusting his hand into Z's pocket. A failed in the attempt is a consequence of
Z's having nothing in his pocket. A is guilty under this Section.
This section deals with only punishment for
'attempt to commit an offence where no express provision is made by this Code
for the punishment of such attempt. The Code provides for punishment for
criminal attempts in the following three different ways:-
Sections in which the commission of an offence
and the attempt to commit it are dealt with in the same section, the extent of
punishment being the same for both. These sections are
S.197: Using false certificate
S.213: Obstruction by a person to his lawful
apprehension.
S.224: Resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension of another person.
S.250: Delivery of coin, possessed with knowledge that it is altered.
S.387: Putting a person in fear of injury to
commit extortion.
S.385: Putting a person in fear of death orgrievous hurt to commit extortion.
S.389: Putting a person in fear of accusation of offence, to commit extortion.
In the case of three grave offences, separate
specific punishments are prescribed separate " sections "
S.307: punishes attempt to commit murder.
S.308: punishes attempt to commit culpable.
S.309: Punishes attempt to commit suicide homicide.
S.393: punishes attempt to commit robbery.
Where this section of the Indian Penal Code,
viz. S. 511 is the residuary section dealing with attempts.
S.120 Definition of attempt
A person attempts to commit an offence. When
a) he, with the intention or knowledge requisite
for committing it, does an act towards its commission;
b) the act so done is closely connected with, and
proximate to, the commission of the offence and,
c) the act fails in its objects because of facts
not known to him or because of circumstances beyond his control
Illustrations:
i.
A intends to
murder Z, buys a gun and loads it. A is not yet guilty of an attempt to commit murder.
A fired the gun at Z, he is guilty of an attempt to commit murder.
ii.
A intends to
murder Z, by poison, purchases poison and mixes the same with food which
remains in A's keeping. A is not yet guilty of an attempt to commit murder. A
placed the food on 7's table or delivers it to Z's servant to place it on Z's
table. A is guilty of an attempt to commit murder.
iii.
A, with the intent
to steal jewels, breaks Z's open box and finds that there is no jewel in it. As
hu act failed in its object because of facts not known to him, he is guilty of
an attempt to commit theft.
S. 120: PUNISHMENT FOR ATTEMPT
Whoever is guilty of an attempt to commit an
offence is punishable with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment for a specified
term, shall, where no express provision is made for the punishment of such an attempt.
be punished with imprisonment of any description provided for the offence, for
a term which may extend to one half of the imprisonment for life, or as the
case may be. one half of the longest term of imprisonment provided for that
offence, or with such fine as is provided for the offence, or with both.
4) Commission.
It is the last stage of the commission of a crime.
The offender has crossed all three stages i.e. intention, preparation and
attempt and has entered into the last stage of commission. The act committed by
the offender includes illegal omission also.
S. 32
of I.P.C. states that words referring tan o the act include illegal omission. S. 32 reads "every part of this Code,
except where a contrary intention appears from the context words which refers
to acts done extend also to illegal omissions.
S. 33:
Act' and 'Omission' - The word act denotes as well as a series of acts as a
single act the word 'omission' denotes as well as a series of omissions as a
single omission.
S. 43:
defines illegal' and it reads: The word 'illegal' applies to everything which
is an offence or which is prohibited by law, or which furnishes ground for a
civil action, and a person is said to be 'legally bound to do whatever it is
illegal in him to omit.
There are certain omissions for which I.P.C.
expressly provides.
Omission to produce documents, S. 175.
Omission to give notice of information, S.176. (These two omissions are made crimes if done by persons who are bound)
Omission to assist a public servant, S.187.
Omission on the part of a public servant to
apprehend, S. 221 and S. 222.
C. CASE LAW
i) State of Maharashtra V. Mohd.Yakub, AIR 1980 SCI.
The offence of attempting to smuggle silver
out of India is punishable u/s 135 (2). Customs Act, 1962, and S. 12 (1) of the
FERA, 'attempt to define a precise and exact definition. It is a fixed question
of law and fact. Broadly speaking, all crimes, which consist of the commission
of affirmative acts, are preceded by some covert or overt conduct, which may be
divided into three stages. The first stage exists when the culprit first
entertains the idea or intention to commit an offence. In the second stage, he
makes preparations to commit it. The third stage is reached when the culprit takes
deliberate steps to commit the offence. Such an overt act or step to be
criminal' need not be a punishable act towards the commission of the offence.
It is sufficient if such act or acts were deliberately done and manifest a
clear intention to commit the offence aimed, being reasonably proximate to the
commission of the offence.
In the instant case, the fact that the truck
was driven up to a lonely creek from where the silver could be transferred into
the sea-faring vessel was suggestive or indicative though not conclusive. that
the accused wanted to export the silver. It might be transported in the course
of inter-coastal trade. But, the circumstances that all this was done
clandestinely, in the dead of night, revealed with reasonable certainty that ty,
the intention of the accused that the silver was to be exported
D. CONCLUSION
Under the Indian Penal Code, every offence
committed passes through above mentioned four stages. In the first stage intention
alone is not punishable itself. Intention includes knowledge, motive,
recklessness and negligence etc. The stage of preparation is not made
punishable as a general rule except u/s 122,126 and 399 of I.P.C. The third
stage attempt is punishable whether the accused succeeds or fails. When the
offender crossed all three stages and entered the last stage of commission,
then it is crime. The act committed also includes an illegal omission.
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