Q. No. 12: Explain in detail the concept of Abetment.

Answer :- INTRODUCTION :- A crime may be committed by one or more persons involved

in crime then their liability depends upon the extent of their participation. Thus this rule of
joint liability comes into existence. But there is an important fact which is that the law has a
knowledge about the abettor, who has given help to another in crime. This rule is very ancient
and was applied in Hindu Law also. In English Law, criminals are divided in four categories,
but in India there is only one distinction between the doer and his helper who is known as
abettor. The crime of abetment come under section 107 to 120 of the IPC. Section 107
defines ‘abetment of a things’ and section l08 defines about the abettor.co agency less direct
and immediate kind
SECTION 107 IPC ‘ABETMENT OF THING’:
A person abets the doing of a thing by instigation :-
1. Instigate any person to do that things
2. By conspiracy.
3. By aids.
BY INSTIGATION ANY PERSON TO DO THAT THINGS :- According to the first clause
of section 107 a person abets of thing that instigates any person to do that thing. A person is
said to instigate another when he incites, urges, encourages, provokes, counsels, procures or
command him to do something.
EXPLANATION :- A person who by wilful misrepresentations or by wilful concealment of a
material fact, which he is bound to disclose, voluntary causes or procures or attempts to cause
or procures a thing to be done, is said to instigate the doing of that things.
ILLUSTRATION :-
A Police Officer is authorised by a warrant from a court of justice to apprehend Z. B
knowing that fact and also that C is not Z, wilfully represents to A that C is Z and thereby
intentionally causes A to apprehend C. Here B abets by instigation the apprehension of C.
Case : Gurbachan Singh v/s Sat Pal Singh, AIR- 1990
A newly wedded girl died of burns. The father of deceased had stated in FIR that the
deceased committed suicide because of harassment and constant taunt for insufficient
dowry. It was held by the SC that the deceased had committed suicide at the instigation of
her husband and in laws and it was not a case of accidental death.
2. ABETMENT BY CONSPIRACY
The second clause of this section states that a person abets the doing of a thing who engages
with one or more other persons in conspiracy for the doing of that thing. If an act or illegal
omission takes place in pursuance of that conspiracy and in order to doing of that thing then it
is called abetment by conspiracy. If an act or illegal omission takes place in prurience of that
conspiracy.
ILLUSTRATION :-
A concerts with B a plans for poisoning Z. It is agreed that A shall administer the poison. B
then explains the plan to C mentioning that a third person is to administer the poison, but
without mentioning A’s name. C agrees to procure the poison and deliver it to B for the
purpose explained ‘A’ administers the poison and Z dies. Here A and C have not conspired
together, yet C has therefore committed the offence and is liable for punishment.
A case : Rup Devi v/s State : 1955.
The deceased & his wife had strained relationship. The wife had illicit intimacy with the
accused. The deceased was scheduled to go to ‘Sadhu” on a particular day. The wife told
the accused about this programme even though she knew that the accused was waiting for the
opportunity to kill her husband and taking the opportunity he killed him. It was held that the
wife was not guilty of abetment by conspiracy, even though her conduct was open to censure.
3. ABETMENT BY AIDING:
The third clause of the section says that,” A person abets the doing of thing who intentionally
aids by any act in the illegal omission of the doing of that thing.
EXPLANATION :- Whoever either prior to or at the time of the commission of an act does
anything in order to facilitate the commission of that act thereby facilitates the commission
thereof, is said to aid the doing of that act.
ILLUSTRATION :- If the servant keeps the gate open of the master’s house so that thrives
may enter and thieves do not come, he cannot be held to have abetted the commission of
theft.
A case: Ram Kumar v/s State of H.P. 1995. The 19 years old prosecutrix was taken to the
police station by the accused that kept watch over her husband while she was raped by the co-
accused. In this custodial rape the accused turned deaf ears towards the cries of the
prosecutrix and did nothing to help her. The SC implied abetment of the accused for abetment
of rape.

SECTION 108 OF IPC: ABETTOR :

A person can become an abettor in two ways :-
1.When he abates the commission of an offence : Example : Where he abets ‘B’ to commit
murder of ‘Z’. Here A is an abettor.
2.When the abets the commission of an offence it is committed by a person capable by law to
commit an offence with the same intention or knowledge as that of the abettor.
Example : “A” abets B, a five year old child, to commit murder of Z, he is still an abettor
under the 2nd category because even though the child will not be guilty of anything by virtue
of the protection given to him by section 82 of the IPC.
To define the abettor the explanation must be read as :-
EXLPLANATION No.1 :- The abetment of the illegal omission of an act may amount to an
offence although the abettor may not himself be bound to do that act.
ILLUSTRATION :- ‘A’ instigates B to murder C. B refuses to do so. A is guilty of abetting B
to commit murder.
Explanation No.2 :- To constitute the offence of abetment it is not necessary that the
particular act of abettor should be committed.
ILLUSTRATION :- ‘A’ instigates B to Murder D. B in pursuance of the instigation stabs
D. D recovers from wound. A is guilty of instigation B to commit murder.
Explanation No. 3 :- It is not necessary that the abettor & the person abetted must have same
guilty intention or knowledge.
ILLUSTRATION :- ‘A’ with a guilty intention, abets a child or a lunatic to commit an act
which would be an offence if committed by a person capable by law lof committing an
offence and having the same intention as A. Here A, whether the act be committed or not is
guilty of abetting an offence.
EXPLANATION NO. 4 :-The abetment of an offence being an offence the abetment of such
an abetment is also an offence.
ILLUSTRATION :- ‘ A ‘ instigates B to instigate C to murder Z. B accordingly instigates C
to murder Z and C commits that offence in consequences of B’s instigation. B is liable to be
punished for his offence with the punishment for murder and as A instigated B to committed
the offence. A is liable to the same punishment.
EXPLANATION NO 5 ;-It is not necessary to the commission of the offence of abetment by
conspiracy that the abettor should concert the offence with the person who commits it. It is
sufficient if he engages in the conspiracy.
ILLUSTRATION : ‘ A’ concerts with B a plan of poisoning Z. It is agreed that A shall
administer the poison. B then explains the plan to C mentioning that a third person is to
administer the poison but without mentioning A’s name C agrees to procure the poison &
deliver lit to B the purpose of its being used in the matter explained. ‘A” administers the
poison, Z dies in consequence, Here though A and C did not conspired together, Yet C has
been engaged in the conspiracy in pursuance of which Z had been murdered. C has therefore
committed the offence defined in the section and is liable to the punishment of murder.

109. Punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where
no express provision is made for its punishment

Whoever abets any offence shall, if the act abetted is committed in consequence of the
abetment, and no express provision is made by this Code for the punishment of such
abetment, be punished with the punishment provided for the offence.

Explanation- An act or offence is said to be committed in consequence of abetment, when it

is committed in consequence of the instigation, or in pursuance of the conspiracy, or with the
aid which constitutes the abetment.

Illustrations

(a) A offers a bribe to B, a public servant, as a reward for showing A some favor in the
exercise of B's official functions. B accepts the bribe. A has abetted the offence defined in
section 161.

(b) A instigates B to give false evidence. B, in consequence of the instigation, commits that
offence. A is guilty of abetting that offence, and is liable to the same punishment as B.

(c) A and B conspire to poison Z. A in pursuance of the conspiracy, procures the poison and
delivers it to B in order that he may administer it to Z B, in pursuance of the conspiracy,
administers the poison to Z in A 's absence and thereby causes Z's death. Here B is guilty of
murder. A is guilty of abetting that offence by conspiracy, and is liable to the punishment for
murder.

Section 110 of the Indian Penal Code gives that even if the individual abetted commits the
offense with an intention different than the intention possessed by the main perpetrator of the
crime, yet the abettor will be charged with the punishment provided for the offence abetted.
The liability of the individual abetted isn’t influenced by this section.

Section 111 of the Indian Penal Code continues the development on abetment laws around
the phrase “each man is deemed to intend the corollary outcomes of his act.” If one man
actuates another to execute a specific wrongdoing, and that other, in pursuance of such
instigation, executes not just that wrongdoing but carries out another wrongdoing in
advancement of it, the former is criminally liable as an abettor in regard of such last
mentioned wrongdoing, in the event that it is one which, as a person with the intelligence of a
reasonable man, at the time of inducement would have known to be committed in order to
carry out the original crime.

Section 112 of the Indian Penal Code expands the guidelines articulated in the previous
section. Under it, the abettor is held liable for the offense abetted and also the offense
committed. A joint scrutiny of Sections 111, 112 and 133 make it richly evident that if an
individual abets another in the commission of an offense and the chief goes further from there
on and accomplishes something more which has an alternative outcome from that planned by
the abettor and makes the offense an aggravated one, the abettor is liable for the
consequences of the acts of his principal.

The essence of the issue is an enquiry of this sort is whether the abettor as a sensible man at
the time that he is being instigated or has been purposefully supporting the main perpetrator
would have predicted the likely results of his abetment.

Section 113 of the Indian Penal Code ought to be read together with Section 111. Section 111
accommodates the doing of the actus reus which is not the same as the one abetted, though
this section manages the situation when the actus reus done is equivalent to the guilty act
abetted however its impact is not the same.

Section 114 of the Indian Penal Code is possibly only brought into activity when conditions
adding up to abetment of a specific wrongdoing have first been proved, and after that the
presence of the accused at the commission for that wrongdoing is demonstrated furthermore.
Section 114 talks about the case, where there has been the wrongdoing of abetment, however
where additionally there has been real commission of the wrongdoing abetted and the abettor
has been present there, and the manner by which it manages such a case is this. Rather than
the wrongdoing being still abetment with circumstances of aggravation, the wrongdoing turns
into the very wrongdoing abetted. The section is clearly not punitory.

Section 114 isn’t relevant for each situation in which the abettor is present at the commission
of the offense abetted. While Section 109 is a section which talks about abetment, Section
114 applies to those cases in which not only is the abettor present at the time of the
commission of the offense but abetment was done beforehand and done independently of his
presence.
There is a very fine line between Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 114 of the
Indian Penal Code. As per Section 34, where a criminal act is done by numerous people, in
promotion of the basic aim of all, every one of them is liable as though it were finished by
himself alone; so that if at least two or more people are present, helping and abetting in the
commission of the murder, each will be tried as the main perpetrator of the crime, however it
probably won’t be clear which of them really perpetrated the crime.

Section 114 alludes to the situation where an individual by abetment, prior to the commission
of the wrongful act, renders himself obligated as an abettor, is present when the actus reus
takes place, however takes no active part in its doing. A joint act falling under Section 34
however does not include a mere order from one person to another and the carrying out of
that order by the other which may only be instigation of the latter’s act.

Section 115 of the Indian Penal Code criminalises the abetment of specific offenses which are
either not committed at all, or not committed in pursuance of abetment or only in part
committed.

The detainment discussed in this section is for a term which may stretch out to seven years,
and will likewise be obligated to fine. What’s more is that, if any act for which the abettor is
liable in consequence of the abetment, and which causes hurt to any person, is done, the
abettor shall be liable to imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to
fourteen years and shall also be liable to fine.

‘Express Provision’ alludes to sections in which explicit instances of abetment of offenses

punishable with death or detainment for life are talked about.

‘Such Abetment’ alludes to the abetment of the offense indicated in the section itself, to be
specific, an offense culpable with death or detainment for life.

Section 116 of the Indian Penal Code accommodates the abetment of an offense punishable
with detainment. There is no corresponding section in the Code identifying with abetment of
an offense culpable with fine only.

Three distinct conditions of fact may emerge after an abetment:

 1. No offense might be committed. For this situation, the wrongdoer is culpable
under Section 115 and 116 of the Penal Code for mere abetment to perpetrate a
wrongdoing.
2. The very act at which abetment is targeted may be committed, and will be culpable
under Sections 109 and 110 of the Penal Code.
3. Some act extraordinary however corollary from the act which was abetted might take
place in which case the abettor will be tried under the punishments of Sections 111,112
and 113.

4. Section 117 deals with abetment of offences by the public generally or large groups of
persons.
5. Section 118 prescribes the penalty for concealing the existence of a design in another to
commit a grave offence.
6. Sections 119 and 120 provide for punishment in the case of public servants and others
respectively for concealment of a design in another person to commit the offence not
covered by S. 118

Relevant Case Laws

The law of abetment has undergone major changes very recently. The changes are laid out by
the landmark cases below:

 In Pramod Shriram Telgote v. State of Maharashtra , it was held that “clear mens rea
to commit the offence is a sine qua non for conviction under Section 306 IPC”.

 In Channu v. State of Chattisgarh, it was held that “merely because wife

committed suicide in matrimonial house, husband and in-laws can’t be charged for
abetment to suicide.”
 In Gurucharan Singh v. State of Punjab, it was held that “in order to convict a
person for abetment of suicide, there has to be a clear mens rea to commit an
offence.”

Conclusion
Thus, contrary to popular belief, not only the perpetrator of the crime but also his or her
accomplice will be liable in the case.