Notes (Indian Penal Code) An Introduction
IPC is a Criminal Law
According to Britannica – Criminal Law means, “the body of law that defines criminal offenses, regulates the apprehension, charging, and trial of suspected persons, and fixes penalties and modes of treatment applicable to convicted offenders.”
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is a Substantive Criminal Law la, It is a vital element of the Indian legal system, outlining definitions and punishments for a range of offences (criminal activities) to maintain law and order.
Offence :
According to Section 40 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 an act or omission which is made punishable by any law for the time being in force.
*Section 32 -Words referring to acts include illegal omissions.—In every part of this Code, except where a contrary intention appears from the context, words which refer to acts done extend also to illegal omissions.
*Section 33- “Act” “Omission”.—The word “act” denotes as well as series of acts as a single act: the word “omission” denotes as well a series of omissions as a single omission.
Nature and definition of crime
Definitions of crime
According to Oxford English dictionary. –“An act punishable by law as forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare.”
Blackstone. – “commentaries on the laws of England” has defined crime as “an act committed or omitted in violation of a law either forbidding or commanding it.”
According to Kenny. Crimes are wrongs whose sanctions are punitive and are in no way remissible by any private person; but are remissible by Crown alone. If remissible at all.”
According to HUDA – To a common man crimes are those acts which people in society consider worthy of serious condemnation.
According to Austin. – ‘A wrong which is pursued by the sovereign or his subordinates may be a crime.
According to Sergeant Stephen, an English philosopher, “crime is not only any such act or omission which is punishable by law but also such acts which hurt the moral sentiments of the society”.
In General, crime is an act or omission which is against society, against moral values and contrary the public interests for which punishment can be inflicted through judicial proceedings conducted in the name of state.
In order to know the nature and the content of crime we ought to know first of all what is law,
A law is an order that supports the direction of conduct that must be followed by all members of society. The law specifies certain standards of behavior observed by people in society.
Any divergence from the standards of behaviour fixed by the society is punished. Therefore, such conduct as does not accord with the prescribed standard is known as crime
Nature of Crime – Crime is an inherent aspect of human society, The nature of crime is complex and multifaceted, influenced by social, economic, psychological, and cultural factors. It reflects the diverse and contradictory aspects of human society.
Crime is either an act or omission of any act on the part of a human being, which is harmful to society at large, Crime must be a public wrong, The actions taken in crime are always in rem, that is, against the whole world, When any crime is committed, action is taken against the accused by the concerned State or government, Crimes (Offences) are always punishable by law, Proceedings are to be initiated in a Criminal Court against the accused by the state, the accused is typically taken into custody, an investigation ensues, trials are conducted, and a judgment is eventually delivered.
Difference between Crime and offence –
Difference between Crime and offence –
| Crime | Offence |
| Crime is used in a broader sense | while the word offence is used in specific sense |
| Any evil act which is not defined and punishable by any criminal law, may be a crime. | while An offence is the act that is defined and punishable by any criminal law. |
| All offences can be said crime | but all crime cannot be said offences. |
| Crime is not defined in any criminal law | while The word ‘offence’ has, however, been defined under section 40 of the Indian Penal Code, the word ‘offence’ denotes a thing made punishable by this code. According to CrPC Sec. 2(n) offence” means any act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force and includes any act in respect of which a complaint may be made under section 20 of the Cattle- trespass Act, 1871 (1 of 1871); Section 3(38) of General Clauses Act, 1897 defines offence as an act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force. |
| Example: Crulety by husband or his relatives of a woman subjecting to her is an offence (498A)IPC | while Crulety by wife or her relatives of a man subjecting to him is not an offence but may be a crime |
Essential elements of crime –
- Person (Human Being + Legal Person)
- An evil intent ( Mens rea)
- An act committed or omitted in furtherance of the intent ( Actus reus)
- An injury to any person or society in furtherance of the act
Stages of crime –
- Mental stage – generally not offence until specified.
- Preparation – generally not offence until specified
- Attempt – punishable
- Offence – punishable
Criminal law and criminal science
Criminal law is a main branch of three of branches of criminal science. we can say criminal law is a part of criminal science and criminal science is a complete social study.
‘Kenny discusses the place of criminal law in criminal science.
According to him, criminal science is a social study and main aims of criminal science are:
- to discover the causes of criminal behavior,
- to devise the most effective methods of reducing the amount of criminality,
- and to perfect the mechanisms for dealing with criminals (those who have committed crimes).
Based on these three objectives, three main branches of Criminal Science have emerged:
- Criminology: This branch studies crime and the punishment of criminals as social phenomena. It aims to understand the reasons behind criminal behavior. Criminology includes two sub-branches
- :a) Criminal Biology: Investigates whether criminal tendencies stem from factors like genetics or physical traits of individuals.
- b) Criminal Sociology: Focuses on how social, political, and economic factors in the environment contribute to criminal behavior. This branch is also known as criminal anthropology.
- Criminal Policy or Penology: This branch of Criminal Science focuses on controlling harmful behavior in society using insights from Criminology. It addresses:
- a) How to organize society to prevent harmful activities.
- b) How to treat those who commit harm, including options like warnings, probation, medical treatment, or more severe measures like imprisonment or capital punishment. This field is also known as Penology and deals with the prevention, treatment, and management of crimes.
- Criminal Law: Criminal law is concerned with handling cases through special sanctions imposed by criminal statutes, thus serving as an instrument of criminal policy. The policies formulated by Criminology and Penology are put into practice through Criminal Law. It determines the specific punishments appropriate for each case, ranging from the death penalty and imprisonment to fines, probation, and warnings.
Crime and tort
‘The nature of a crime is no different than that of a tort, and it has been said that there is no fundamental or inherent difference between the two. The same conduct, when it harms an individual, is a tort, whereas when it harms the society it becomes a crime. But a society consists of a large number of individuals.
The difference between tort and crime –
| Tort | Crime |
| tort is an infringement of private or civil rights of individual. | crime is a breach of public rights which affect the whole community |
| The suit for damages is filed in the Civil Court against the wrongdoers by the plaintiff himself for redress | Proceedings are to be initiated in a Criminal Court against the accused by the state |
| The main aim is to re compensate the plaintiff for the loss suffered by him from the wrongful act of the defendant. | the main aim is to punish the accused |
| If convicted to set example that such crime is not repeated in future. |
Principle of criminal liability –
Principle of criminal liability – Recognition of the mental and physical elements
The most famous principal of criminal liability in the form of a latin maxim thus:
Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which means that a guilty act together with a guilty mind constitute a crime.
Actus rea:
Any act or omission which is prohibited by law, is called actus rea.
Mens rea:
Whenever any person does an act with guilty mind, it is called mens rea. Both the guilty mind and actus rea must be present at the same time to entail conviction under criminal law.
[1] Dr. Jai Narayann Pandey, The Constitutional Law of India, Central Law Agency
[2] Dr. Jai Narayann Pandey, The Constitutional Law of India, Central Law Agency