Introduction

The taking of money or goods in the possession of another, from his or her person or immediate
presence, by force orintimidation.Robbery is a crime of theft and can be classified as Larceny by
force or by threat of force. The elements of the crime ofrobbery include the use of force or intimi
dation and all the elements of the crime of larceny. The penalty for robbery is alwaysmore severe
than for larceny. The general elements of robbery are the taking of Personal Property or money
from the person or presence of another, the use of actual or constructive force, the lack of consent
on the part of the victim, and the intent to steal on the part of the offender. Neither deliberation nor
premeditation is necessary, nor is an express demand for the property. Robbery requires a taking
of property from the person or presence of the victim, which means that the taking must be from
the victim's possession, whether actual or constructive. Property is on the victim's person if it is in
his hand, in the pocket of the clothing he wears, or otherwise attached to his body or clothing. The
phrase "from the presence" or "in the presence" has-been construed to mean proximity or control
rather than within eyesight of the victim. For example, a robber takes property from the victim's
presence if the robber locks the victim in one room and then takes the valuable from another room.
There is sufficient proximity even though the victim cannot see through the walls into the room
where the valuables are stored. The property taken must be close enough to the victim and
sufficiently under his control that had the robber not used violence or intimidation, the victim could
have prevented the taking. As an example, if a robber uses force to immobilize property owner at
one place while an Accomplice takes the owner's property from a place several miles away, the
distance between the owner and the owner's property is such that the owner could not have
prevented the taking even if he had been free to try to interfere. A robbery must also include a
taking or aspiration, a carrying away by which the goods are taken from the victim’s possession
and transferred to the possession of the robber. The crime is complete when the robber acquires
possession of the property, even for a short time. The robber does not have to transport the property
away from the physical presence of the person who has lawful possession of it or even escape with
it. The slightest change of location is sufficient to establish aspiration. Once the robber takes
possession of the property, the offense is complete, even if the robber later abandons the property.

Section 390 of PC talks about Robbery. It explains that in all robbery there is either theft or
extortion.

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Robbery under penal code
Section analysis:
According to the section 390 of penal code, In all robbery there is either theft or extortion. So
there is no exact definition of robbery in penal code. There are some circumstances when the theft
or extortion can be treated as robbery. So it is a question of fact.
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force or
by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another
with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that person of that properly, by means of force
or fear.
Section-392: Punishment for robbery

According to the section 392

Whoever commits robbery shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may
extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine; and, if the robbery be committed on the highway
between sunset and sunrise, the imprisonment may be extended to fourteen years.

Section analysis: this section states about punishment about robbery. There are several
punishments for committing robbery these are—

I. Maximum 10 years rigorous imprisonment, or

II. Liable to fine, or

III. Maximum fourteen years imprisonment

When theft is robbery:

Theft is “robbery” if, in order to the committing of the theft, or in committing the theft, or in
carrying away or attempting to carry away property obtained by the theft, the offender, for that
end, voluntarily causes or attempts to cause to any person death or hurt or wrongful restraint, or
fear of instant death or of instant hurt, or of instant wrongful restraint.

When extortion is robbery:

Extortion is “robbery” if the offender, at the time of committing the extortion, is in the presence
of the person put in fear, and commits the extortion by putting that person in fear of instant death,

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or of instant hurt, or of instant wrongful restraint to that person, or to some other person, and, by
so putting in fear, induces the person so put in fear then and there to deliver up the thing extorted.

Explanation:

The offender is said to be present if he is sufficiently near to put the other person in fear of instant
death, or of instant hurt, or of instant Wrongful restraint.

Illustrations:

(a) A holds Z down, and fraudulently takes Z’s money and jewels from Z’s clothes, without Z’s
consent. Here A has committed theft, and, in order to the committing of that theft, has voluntarily
caused wrongful restraint to Z. A has therefore committed robbery.

(b) A meets Z on the high road, shows a pistol, and demands Z’s purse. Z, in consequence,
surrenders his purse. Here A has extorted the purse from Z by putting him in fear of instant hurt,
and being at the time of committing the extortion in his presence. A has therefore committed
robbery.

(c) A meets Z and Z’s child on the high road. A takes the child, and threatens to fling it down a
precipice, unless Z delivers his purse. Z, in consequence, delivers his purse. Here A has extorted
the purse from Z, by causing Z to be in fear of instant hurt to the child who is there present. A has
therefore committed robbery on Z.

(d) A obtains property from Z by saying – “Your child is in the hands of my gang, and will be put
to death unless you send us ten thousand rupees.” This is extortion, and punishable as such: but it
is not robbery, unless Z is put in fear of the instant death of his child.

A. Meaning:

Robbery means a felonious taking from the person of another or in his presence or against his will,
by violence or putting him in fear. Robbery is an aggravated form of theft or extortion. If there is
no theft or no extortion, there is no robbery.

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B. In all robbery there is either theft or extortion:

The framers of the Indian Penal Code observed: “There can be no case of robbery which does not
fall within the definition either of theft or extortion; but in a practice it will perpetually be a matter
of doubt whether a particular act of robbery was a theft or extortion.

A large proportion of robberies will be half theft, half extortion. A seizes Z, threatens to murder
him, unless he delivers all his property, and begins to pull of Z ornaments. Z in terror begs A will
take all he has, and spare his life, assists in taking of his ornaments, and delivers them to A. Here,
such ornaments as A took without Z’s consent is taken by theft.

Those which Z delivered from fear of death or acquired by extortion. It is by no means improbable
that Z’s right arm bracelet may have been obtained by theft and left arm bracelet by extortion; that
the rupees in Z’s girdle may have been obtained by theft and those in his turban by extortion.

Probable in nine-tenths of the robberies which are committed something like this actually takes
place, and it is probable a few minutes later neither the robber nor the person robbed would be able
to recollect in what proportions theft and extortion were mixed in the crime; nor is it at all necessary
for the ends of justice that this should be ascertained.

For though, in general, the consent of a suffer is a circumstance which vary materially modifies
the character of an offence, and which ought, therefore, to be made known to the Courts, yet the
consent which a person gives to the taking of this property by a ruffian who holds a pistol to his
breast is a circumstance altogether immaterial.”

C. When theft is robbery: Before theft can amount to robbery,

Firstly:

The offender must have voluntarily caused or attempted to cause to any person death or hurt or
wrongful restraint or fear of instant death or of instant hurt or of instant wrongful restraint,

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Secondly:

This must be in order to the committing of theft, or in committing of theft, or in carrying away or
attempting to carry away property obtained by the theft,

Thirdly:

The offender must voluntarily cause or attempt to cause to any person hurt, etc., for that end, that
is in order to committing theft or for carrying away or attempting to carry away property obtained
by the theft,

Fourthly:

The offender must voluntarily attempt one or any of the above acts.

D. When extortion is robbery:

Similar to the above point, extortion becomes robbery if the offender at the time of committing the
extortion is in the presence of the person put in fear and commits the extortion by putting that
person in fear of instant death, or of instant hurt, or of instant wrongful restraint to that person or
to some other, and, by so putting in fear induces the person so put in fear then and there to deliver
up the thing or property extorted.

E. Punishment:

Sec. 392 imposes punishment for robbery. It lies down that whoever commits robbery shall be
punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be
liable to fine; and if the robbery be committed on the high-way between the sun-set and the sun-
rise, the imprisonment may be extended to fourteen years.

F. Attempt to commit robbery:

Sec. 393 says that whoever attempts to commit robbery, shall be punished with rigorous
imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.

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G. Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery:

According to Sec. 394, if the offender while committing robbery voluntarily causes hurt to the
complainant, such offender shall be punished with imprisonment with life or with rigorous
imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and also fine.

In Omprakash vs. State,1 the accused committed a high-way robbery. They looted the passengers
of the bus. The trial Court imposed punishment for life. On appeal High Court upheld it.

Victim Resistance and Robbery

It was argued, by some criminologists and many commentators, that resistance was strongly related
to injury and increased the likelihood of suffering retaliation at the hands of the robber. Thus,
passive behavior in the face of robbery was considered the wisest course of action. Clearly, robbery
is not a homogeneous event and therefore suggestion of a single best practice with regard to dealing
with a robbery from the perspective of the victim may not be appropriate. For example, robbers
may outnumber the victim, may be well armed, and may have a victim cornered. Certainly, in that
situation, a lone victim would wisely surrender his or her items and offer no resistance. However,
it is clear from the data obtained from police records and self-reported victimizations that many
robberies involve unarmed perpetrators. In these cases, resistance might reduce the likelihood of
robbery completion or loss of goods, especially if the victim identifies an escape route.
Criminologists that have analyzed data from victimization surveys tend to find that resistance is
beneficial in that many robberies are not completed when victims resist physically or verbally.
This contrasts with data collected by police because official reports greatly underrepresent
attempted robberies, and studies indicate that police reports may be more likely to be taken if a
victim is injured. Thus, although there appears to be a positive relationship between injury and
resistance in police data, it may be due to the nature of how police decide whether to record or not
record the crime. Victimization surveys overcome these obstacles and thus more completely
enumerate robbery circumstances while also providing researchers with the ability to tell if

1
(1978 Cr LJ 797 All.)

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victims’ resistance is a consequence of being injured or if it causes injury. The systematic biases
in the recording and reporting practices that influence the types of events that appear in official
data are not an issue for victimization survey

Robbery Types

Scholarly work has generated a sense that robberies are not a unitary event but encompass a great
variety of subtypes. Robbery types include stranger and acquaintance robberies, carjackings, home
invasions, commercial robberies, bank robberies, and street robberies or muggings. Each of these
types of robberies presents a different set of difficulties for those victimized as well as differing
obstacles for the perpetrator. Perhaps the most useful distinction to make when considering
variations in robbery is the difference between commercial and personal robberies. For example,
the scholarly research indicates that robberies of convenience stores and other commercial
establishments may be different in the sense that the robber is asking the victim to surrender
someone else’s money. This might be easier to accomplish with less forceful action than when
convincing someone to give up his or her personal money and property. The carjacking is of
relatively recent consideration, but similarly presents difficulties of securing control of an
automobile through force and threats.

Difference between theft and robbery

There are some difference between theft robbery these are given below_

Theft Robbery
a) Section 378 of the penal code state the a) Section 390 of the penal code sates the
provision of theft. provision of Robbery.

b) In the cases of theft one person is enough to b) In the codes of Robbery, The offender may
commit this offence. be one or two boot not more than four.

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 Theft Robbery
c) There is no necessity of extortion here. c) In this case, committing theft or, attempting
to carry away property, the offender or
offenders must be violent.

d) In the case of theft, without the consent of d) In the case of robbery, by putting in fear,
the legal owner of the concern property is induces the person so put in fear then and there
transferred. to deliver up the property.

e) Whoever commits theft shall be punished
with imprisonment of either description for
attempt which may extend to three years or
with fine, or with both.
(sec-379)
e) Whoever commits robbery shall be punished
with rigorous imprisonment for a term which
may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable
to fine, and if the robbery be committed on the
highway between sunset and sun rise, the
imprisonment may be extended to fourteen
years. (sec-392)

Conclusion

A robber may also render the victim helpless by more subtle means. Constructive force includes
demonstrations of force,menace, and other means that prevent a victim from exercising free will
or resisting the taking of property. Administeringintoxicating liquors or drugs in order to produce
a state of unconsciousness or stupefaction is using force for purposes ofrobbery. Constructive fo
rce will support a robbery charge.

Overall, the variation in robberies and the levels on which robbery can be understood leave much
room for scientific inquiry regarding the distribution of robberies across places, how individuals
come to choose to commit robbery, how robbers develop targets, and how offenders and victims
behave in individual encounters. These are a sampling of possible questions that could arise in the
context of studying robbery and a set of theoretical frameworks from which the questions can be
understood.