LAW FO CRIMES

“STAGES OF CRIME”

Submitted By: Akarsh Pandey Submitted To: Samia Ma’am

B.A.LL.B.(Hons.)(S/F)
Roll No. - 06

Faculty of Law
Jamia Millia Islamia

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………………..3

Introduction……………………………………………………..………………………………..4

Definition of Crime……………………………………………….……………………………4-6

Intention to Commit a Crime…………………………...…………………………………….6-8

Preparation……………………………………………………………………………….………8

Attempt………………………………………………………………………..………………8-14

Accomplishment……………………………………………………………………………..14-15

Bibliography………………………………………………………….…………………………16

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to thank our subject teacher Samia Ma’m, for the valuable
guidance and advice. She inspired us greatly to work on this interesting assignment. Her
willingness to motivate us contributed tremendously to our assignment. I also would like to
thank her for showing us some sample assignments on how to go about the research assignment.
It gave me an opportunity to analyze and learn about the operation of various sections of Indian
Penal Code relating to the topic . Besides, I would like to thank the Faculty staff for providing us
with a good environment and facilities for completing this assignment. In addition, I would also
like to thank my seniors who provided me with the valuable information acting as a source of
guidance in making the assignment. Finally, an honorable mention goes to my family and friends
for their understandings and supports in completing this assignment. Without the help of the
particulars mentioned above, making of this assignment would not have been possible

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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. Human Being- The first element requires that the wrongful act
must be committed by a human being. In ancient times, when criminal law was largely
dominated by the idea of retribution, punishments were inflicted on animals also for the injury
caused by them, for example, a pig was burnt in Paris for having devoured a child, a horse was
killed for having kicked a man. But now, if an animal causes an injury we hold not the animal
liable but its owner liable for such injury.

DEFINITION OF CRIME:

Many jurists have defined crime in their own ways some of which are as under:

➢ Blackstone defined crime as an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law

either forbidding or commanding it.
➢ Stephen observed a crime is a violation of a right considered in reference to the evil
tendency of such violation as regards the community at large.
➢ Oxford Dictionary defines crime as an act punishable by law as forbidden by statute or
injurious to the public welfare.

Fundamental Elements Of Crime: There are four elements which go to constitute a crime,
these are:-

a. Human being
b. Mens rea or guilty intention

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 c. Actus reus or illegal act or omission
d. Injury to another human being

Human Being- The first element requires that the wrongful act must be committed by a human
being. In ancient times, when criminal law was largely dominated by the idea of retribution,
punishments were inflicted on animals also for the injury caused by them, for example, a pig was
burnt in Paris for having devoured a child, a horse was killed for having kicked a man. But now,
if an animal causes an injury we hold not the animal liable but its owner liable for such injury.

So the first element of crime is a human being who- must be under the legal obligation to act in a
particular manner and should be a fit subject for awarding appropriate punishment.

Section 11 of the Indian Penal Code provides that word ‘person’ includes a company or
association or body of persons whether incorporated or not. The word ‘person’ includes artificial
or juridical persons.

Mens Rea- The second important essential element of a crime is mens rea or evil intent or guilty
mind. There can be no crime of any nature without mens rea or an evil mind. Every crime
requires a mental element and that is considered as the fundamental principle of criminal
liability. The basic requirement of the principle mens rea is that the accused must have been
aware of those elements in his act which make the crime with which he is charged.

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”.

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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 A 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.

There are the four stages in commission of the crime.

❖ Intention·
❖ Preparation·
❖ Implementation·
❖ 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.
Intention is a term , which is very difficult to define . It is not define in the Penal Code. It is a
common term known to everybody, but at the same time, it defies a precise definition. It can
be variously said to mean the object, purposes, the ultimate aim or design behind doing an
act. Intention is the conscious exercise of the mental faculties of a person to do an act, for the
purpose of accomplishment or satisfying a purpose.1 Intention, therefore, is usually used in

1
Bhagwani Appaji v. Kedari Kashinath (1900) ILR 25 Bom 202; Jai Prakash v Delhi Administration (1991) 2 SCC
32,1991 (1) scale 114.

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 relation to the consequences of an act, and not in relation to the act itself. A person clearly
intends a consequences if he wants hat consequences to follow from his action.2
The idea of ‘intention’ in law is not always expressed by words ‘intention’, ‘intentionally’
or‘with intent to’. It is expressed also by words such as ‘voluntarily’, ‘willfully’,
‘deliberatelyintention’, ‘with the purpose of’ , or ‘knowingly’. All these varied expressions
find place in the various sections of the IPC.
Eg: Waging a War against the Government is punishable. In this case, mere intention to
commit is punishable. Similarly, mere assembly of persons to commit a dacoity is punishable
even though there is no preparation to it.
One of the most important ingredient of a crime is Mens rea i.e. an intention to do a wrongful
act knowing the evil consequences of the same. The element of Mens rea is indicated by use
of words such as intention, malice, fraudulent, recklessness etc. There must be a mind at fault
before commission of an offence. Mens rea includes both the intention to do an act as well as
abstaining from doing an act which is required to be done. Mere intention to do a wrongful
act is itself prohibited by law. An accused will be held guilty if it’s proved that he had an
intention to commit the crime but the burden of proof lies on the opposite party and there
should be sufficient justification to conclude that intention existed.
The court in Ramachandra Gujar’s case held that intention can be only inferred from the
conduct of a person and the probable effect of such aconduct must be taken into account as
well.
In State of Maharashtra vs M.H. George,3 the Supreme Court held that criminal intention
is a psychological fact which needs to be proved even with regards to offences under special
acts unless it’s specifically ruled out or ruled out by necessary implication.
In Hari Mohan Mandal vs. State of Jharkhand,4 Hon’ble Supreme Court held that it is not
essential that bodily injury capable of causing death should have been inflicted. Intention to
killor knowledge that death will be caused is a question of fact which will be subject matter
of trial.

2
Ram Kumar v State AIR 1970 Raj 60; Sorabjeet Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh (1984) SCC (Cri) 151, AIR 1983
SC529.
3
1965 AIR 722, 1965 SCR (1) 123.
4
2004 AIR SC.

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 In State vs. Salauddin @ Raja & Anr., the court held that Intention or knowledge is an
essential ingredient for an offence under Section 307 IPC.

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;
▪ Possessing counterfeit coins, false weight or measurement and forged documents. Mere
possession of these is a crime and no possessor can plead that he is still at the stage of
preparation- Sections 242, 243, 259, 266 and 474.

3. Attempt- Attempt is the direct movement towards the commission of a crime after the
preparation is made. According to English law, a person may be guilty of an attempt to commit
an offence if he does an act which is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the
offence; and a person will be guilty of attempting to commit an offence even though the facts are
such that the commission of the offence is impossible. There are three essentials of an attempt:-

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· Guilty intention to commit an offence

· Some act done towards the commission of the offence;

· The act must fall short of the completed offence.

A statute may forbid an attempt to commit a specified crime. An attempt to commit a crime,
When punishable, is an offense that is separate and distinct from the crime that was attempted.
To qualify as a substantial step, something more than mere preparation should be done.

Preparation alone, or a mere statement of the person’s intent to commit a crime, is not sufficient
To constitute an attempt. However, the step should be lesser than the actual commission of the
crime. To establish attempt, the alleged conduct must support the person’s criminal intention to
commit the crime. The person must have engaged in some activity that is a substantial portion of
the crime. An attempt must be an action on the part of the person that comes very close to the
accomplishment of the desired results. A person who fails to commit the attempted crime is also
regarded to have attempted to commit the crime.Intent is an important element when determining
whether an attempt to commit a crime has occurred. The person making the attempt should have
the intention to complete the acts thatconstitutes the crime. It is the intent to commit the crime,
not the possibility of success that determines whether the person’s act or omission constitutes the
crime of attempt.

A person can be convicted for an attempt to commit a crime only when such person has a direct
and specific intent. Therefore, acts done as a result of negligence or recklessness cannot be
considered as anattempt to commit the crime as there is no intention to commit the crime.

It is also known as the 'Preliminary Crime'.

Section XXIII of the IPC, 1860 deals with 'of Attempt to Commit Offences' and provides the
punishment for attempt. Essentials of Attempt

1. Guilty intention to commit an offence.

2. Some act done towards committing the offence.
3. The act must fall short of the completed offence.

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Attempt is the direct movement towards the commission of a crime after the preparation is made.
According to English law, a person may be guilty of an attempt to commit an offence if he does
an act which is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence; and a person will
be guilty of attempting to commit an offence even though the facts are such that the
commissionof the offence is impossible.

Possessing counterfeit coins, false weight or measurement and forged documents. Mere
possession of these is a crime and no possessor can plead that he is still at the stage of
preparation- Sections 242, 243, 259, 266 and 474.

Test to Identify Attempt

It is easy to say that an attempt to commit offence begins where preparation ends, but it is very
difficult to find out where one ends and other begins. To determine this various tests has been
laid down by the court.

1. Proximity test: This test states that if an act is near to the accomplishment of the offence than
it amounts to an attempt. It measures the defendant’s progress by examining how close the
defendant is to completing the offence.

Abhayanand Mishra vs State of Bihar5, In this case, the accused applied to Patna University
for M.A. examination on the basis that he has obtained a B.A. degree. Relying on the accused,
the University issued admit card to accused. After enquiry the University found that the accused
was not a graduate and he had been debarred from taking university examination due to corrupt
practices. He was charged with attempt to commit cheating. The court upholding the conviction
stated that when a person makes preparation with intention and does an act towards its
commission than it is an attempt to commit offence.

2. Locus Poenitentiae Test: It is a Latin phrase, which means opportunity to withdraw. So long
as the steps taken by the accused leaves room for a reasonable expectation that he might befall or
for whatsoever reason, desist from going ahead with the contemplated act, then he will be treated
in law, as only being in preparation.

5
AIR 1961 SC 1698.

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Malkait Singh vs State of Punjab6, Here the appellant was arrested by Punjab Police 32 Miles
before the Punjab –Delhi border for exporting rice to Delhi without license. The court held that it
was mere preparation. It was quite possible that the appellant might have change their mind at
any place before reaching the border and would not have proceeded further in their journey.

3. The Unequivocality Test: It is based on the maxim, “Res ipsa loquitur” which means things
speaks of itself. When a person's conduct, in itself, shows that the person unequivocally and
without reasonable doubt, actually intends to carry out a crime, then the conduct is a criminal
attempt to commit that crime. According to this test, the act of accused unequivocally indicates
his intention to accomplish the criminal object.

State of Maharashtra vs Mohd. Yakub7, On receiving some secret information that silver
would be transported in Jeep and Truck from Bombay, police staff proceeded in two vehicles to
keep a watch. The officers followed the truck and the jeep which, after travelling some distance,
both vehicle took halt near a bridge and the accused removed some small and heavy bundles
from the truck and placed them aside on the ground. The Customs Officers rushed to the spot and
arrested and searched the persons present there. At the same time, the sound of the engine of a
mechanised sea-craft from the side of the creek was heard by the officers. The officers
surrounded the vehicles and found four silver ingots near the footpath leading to the creek.
Accused were questioned about their identity, and they falsely gave their name and address.
From the personal search, a pistol, knife and some currency notes were found. Fifteen silver
ingots concealed in a shawl were found in the rear side of the jeep and twenty-four silver ingots
were found lying under saw-dust bags in the truck.

The accused were charged for illegal export and violating custom rules. On appeal when the case
reached Supreme Court, than the Court held that the intention of the accused to export the silver
from India by sea was clear from the circumstances enumerated above. They were taking the
silver ingots concealed in the two vehicles under cover of darkness. They had reached close to
the sea-shore and had started unloading the silver there near a creek from which the sound of the
engine of a sea-craft was also heard. Beyond the stage of preparation, most of the steps necessary

6
AIR 1970 SC 713.
7
AIR 1980 sc 1111.

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in the course of export by sea, had been taken. The act of the accused, itself shows the intention.
So the court convicted the accused.

Pandharinath vs. State of Maharashtra8, In this case, the victim was appointed as maid
servant. On the very first day of her work, at around mid- night, at about 2.30 - 3.00 a.m. the
complainant felt that somebody is touching her body so she got up. She found that the accused
was sitting near her bed whereupon she shouted. Immediately, the accused gagged her mouth and
tried to lift her cloth. On hearing her cries, a person came into the room and when he came to
know about incident he gave a slap on the face of accused.

Here, the court held that the offence under Section 376 is not proved in the instant case on the
basis of the evidence on record, but it is definitely a case of commission of the offence of
attempting to rape.

Impossible Attempt

An attempt is called as impossible attempt when the following conditions are met.

He or she intended to commit the offence;

He or she did everything that was required for the completion of the offence; and

The completion of the offence was made impossible by facts not known to him or her or because
of circumstances beyond his or her control.

Eg: A person who, believing in witchcraft burns an effigy with the intention of causing him hurt.
Here the conduct of accused was not physically capable of completing the offence, so not liable
for punishment.

Impossibility is sometimes pleaded in answer to a charge of attempt, with the accused

contending that the facts were such that it was impossible for him or her to complete the offence
no matter how hard he or she tried.

8
AIR 2010 SC 1453.

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Eg: A who, with intent to hurt B, prepares a glass filled with poison. Unnoticed by A, C pours
away the poison and refills the glass with water which A, in ignorance of what C has done,
serves to B. Here A was liable for attempting to cause hurt by administering poison.

The concept of impossibility has been categorised into two parts namely physical and legal
impossibility. In cases of physical impossibility, some extraneous factual circumstance makes it
impossible for an accused to achieve the result, whatever means he or she adopts.

The consequence of physical impossibility is that the accused is liable for the attempted offence.

Eg: A makes an attempt to pick the pocket of Z by thrusting his hand into Z’s pocket. Z is having
nothing in his pocket than also A is liable for attempt to commit theft.

In legal impossibility, the result the accused intends, if achieved, will not be the crime he or she
believed would be committed. In case of legal impossibility the person is under a mistaken belief
that his act is a crime but in fact his act does not amounts to crime.

An example is where the accused had taken his own umbrella from a stand thinking that it
belongs to another person.

Asagarali Pradhania v Emperor9, The accused had given the complainant certain substances to
procure a miscarriage. The miscarriage could not be accomplished because the substances were
harmless. The court held that the accused was not liable for the offence of attempting to cause a
woman to have a miscarriage under s 312 read with s 511 of the Penal Code.

Here the accused had not done everything that was required for the completion of the offence.
For that condition to be satisfied, the accused would have had to give the woman a substance
which would have procured the miscarriage.

So the Court acquitted the accused.

Attempt Under The Indian Penal Code, 1860- The Indian Penal Code has dealt with attempt in
the following four different ways-

9
(1933) ILR 61 Cal.

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 ❖ Completed offences and attempts have been dealt with in the same section and same
punishment is prescribed for both. Such provisions are contained in Sections 121, 124,
124-A, 125, 130, 131, 152, 153-A, 161, 162, 163, 165, 196, 198, 200, 213, 240, 241, 251,
385, 387, 389, 391, 394, 395, 397, 459 and 460.
❖ Secondly, attempts to commit offences and commission of specific offences have been
dealt with separately and separate punishments have been provided for attempt to commit
such offences from those of the offences committed. Examples are- murder is punished
under section 302 and attempt to murder to murder under section 307; culpable homicide
is punished under section 304 and attempt to commit culpable homicide under section
308; Robbery is punished under section 392 and attempt to commit robbery under section
393.
❖ Thirdly, attempt to commit suicide is punished under section 309;
❖ Fourthly, all other cases [where no specific provisions regarding attempt are made] are
covered under section 511 which provides that the accused shall be punished with one-
half of the longest term of imprisonment provided for the offence or with prescribed fine
or with both.

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.
Cases
➢ R. vs. Scofield, Cald.10
In this case, the accused lighted a candle and placed it into flammable material in a house
with the intent to burn it down, but the larger fire never happened.
Here the court held the accused guilty of attempt to commit mischief.

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397 (1784).

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 ➢ Emperor vs Vasudeo Balwant Gogte11
In this case, the accused fired two shots on the victim but due to defect in the ammunition
or some other reason the victim escaped from the attack. Here the court held that S. 307
IPC means that the accused must do an act with such a guilty intention and knowledge
and in such circumstances that but for some intervening fact that act would have
amounted to murder in the normal course of events.

11
(1932) 34 Bom LR 571.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Prof. S.N.Mishra; Indian Penal Code; Central Law Publications, Allahabad, Tenth Edition
(September) 2001.

2. K.D. Gaur; A Text Book of The Indian Penal Code, Universal Law Publishing Company Pvt.
Limited, New Delhi, Third Edition 2004

3. O.P. Srivastava; Principles of Criminal Law, Eastern Book Company, Lucknow, Fifth Edition,
2010

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