The article written by Ms Alka Bano is a legal practitioner in the Central Bar Association of Varanasi. I had completed my graduation in B.COM LL.B from Mahatma Gandhi Kasi Vidyapith and LL.M from National Law University, Jodhpur.

INTRODUCTION

Crime is a designated wrong either by an act or omission which attracts the punitive mechanism of the state against the person or persons committing the said wrong.

A criminal offence is a criminal act which causes injury to another person and the law prohibits such an act. 

According to Sir J. Stephen argues that the doctrine of “mens rea” is misleading. He argues that “mens rea” was necessary when the crimes were not defined but now we have defined almost every criminal offence. 

The Indian Penal Code provides a definition which clearly indicates the essential elements of an offence. In the present case, only the essential elements are necessary to prove the existence of an offence.

CRIME DEFINITIONS

The word crime is not defined in the criminal procedure code of India but only explained as an act or omission or series of acts or omission that causes physical or psychological harm, damage or loss to any person’s body, property and reputation, and is against the public as whole.

Crime is not only a crime against one person but also a crime against the public as a whole because it disturbs peace and some crimes can lead to widespread panic and disrupt normal life in a society. Therefore, society takes measures to prevent crime by giving specific punishment for each crime. Some of these punishments include death penalty, life imprisonment, fine or confiscation of property.

According to Paul W. Tappen defines crime as an intentional act or omission in the violation of criminal law, without justification and sanctioned by the law as felony or misdemeanour.

ELEMENTS OF CRIME

There are eight  fundamental elements in crime are as follows:

• Any Person : Person is the essential element of the crime.It includes any company or association or body incorporated or not according to section 11 of the Indian Penal Code.It does not has any provision that punish animals instead only person is one of the ingredients in crime who commit it and liable to be punish.

• Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea: Any acts or omission or series of act or omission committed with an intention to commit any kind of crime like rape,murder,theft, or forgery or any other offences that is prohibited by law and violate public peace as whole. It is the part of conduct in commission of a crime.

In any criminal offences not only physical acts or omission are important elements but also intention, knowledge and negligence that is part of the mental state of any person in commision of crime are also equally important elements to it.In Kamal Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad High Court held that an attempt in the commission of an offence is itself sufficient if there is requisite intention. An intention to murder can be gathered from circumstances other than the existence or nature of injury held by Justice Surendra Singh.

“PERSON EVIL CONDUCT WITH EVIL MIND LIABLE TO GUILTY OF A CRIME”.

• Illegal Acts or Omission with illegal Mind: Any act or omission done by any person which is an offence or prohibited by law is called crime and a person who commits it is a prosecution and the person to whom it is committed is an accused under criminal laws.Here, burden of proof in the commission of a crime is on prosecution beyond the reasonable doubt.

• Voluntarily : Any acts or omission by any person in commission of a crime should be done with an intention to cause it or by which at the time of employing those means or reason to believe likely to cause such crime according to the section 39 of Indian Penal Code is said to be voluntary crime. It has no defence in the eyes of law or under provision of the Indian Penal Code. Voluntary or Involuntary act  is the element of a crime which calculates the degree of the punishment of the crime.

• Intentions or Motives: According to Austin defined motive as the ‘spring of action’; while intention according to him, ‘is the aim of the act, of which the motive is the spring.The Court rejected the plea of lack of motive for committing the crime, in which the accused has proved his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The accused was a domestic servant who killed three of the four family members and injured the fourth in a cruel manner. Since the manner of killing the three deceased family members and the injury to the surviving member of the family, where the accused worked for many years, was so heinous and cruel that it shocked the conscience of the society. The Supreme Court held that the death penalty was the appropriate sentence in such a rare and exceptional case. The Court correctly held that if motive is not proved in a case in which the accused’s guilt is beyond reasonable doubt, it does not prove his guilt.

• Causes Injury: Any person with his acts or omission causes any harm whatever illegal caused to any person in body, mind,reputation or property termed as injury according to the section 44 of Indian Penal Code. It is one of the core elements of crime. 

• Absence of GoodFaith: Any acts or omission by any person in commission of a crime should be done with an intention to cause without due care and attention is liable to be guilty of a crime according to section 52 of Indian Penal Code. 

• Commission of an Offences: Any act or omission done by any person which is an offence or illegal or prohibited by law or a thing made punishable  under section 40 of Indian Penal Code is an offence. It is the end point element of a crime.

CONCLUSION

Criminal Law deals with the consequences of human action and the crimes that the criminal policy of a community has deemed so damaging to society that they must be prohibited, with penalties for violating that prohibition.

It is generally accepted that the necessary elements of a crime are:

•  An act of voluntary conduct or an omission of conduct or failure to act in a manner that is not intentional; 
• An intentional state of mind; and
• The criminal liability of the accused for the result of the act. An act of voluntary conduct can be any voluntary human act.

 Criminal Law is the expression of the social values that define the way in which people live their lives and interact with others in society. It utilises the instrument of punishment to enforce those values and ensure compliance with them.

REFERENCES

•  Smith & Hogan, Criminal Law, Butterwoths Publication, (10th ed., 2002).

• Professionals’sThe Indian Penal Code,(45 of 1860) (I.P.C.) [Bare Act],(2023). 

•  Kamal Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (Criminal Appeal No. 1496 of 1995),(2023).

• Austin, Lectures on Jurisprudence, 1920, p. 165. 

• Om Prakash v. State of Uttaranchal, (2003) 1 SCC 425