Mens rea is a legal term that refers to a person’s mental state at the time of committing a crime in order for it to be considered intentional. It might refer to an overarching desire to break the law or a specific, prepared plot to conduct a specific crime. A criminal prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect actively and intentionally participated in a crime that injured another person or their property in order to convict them of a wrongdoing. “An act does not make a person guilty unless [their] mentality is also guilty,” according to juris Edward Coke. This indicates that a person can only be judged guilty of criminal action if the act was done with purpose. Simply said, mens rea assesses whether a criminal act was committed on intent or by accident. This is a popular concept in murder cases. The mens rea, or mental state at the moment of the killing, is a critical aspect in determining whether the offender will be found guilty or innocent. The lawyer must show that the accused defendant had the desire or willingness to end the life of another person in order to win a conviction. If, on the other hand, evidence demonstrates that the death was unavoidable and unintentional, the defendant must be deemed innocent and released. The Latin phrase actus reus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which means “the act is not responsible unless the mind is guilty,” expresses the standard common law test of criminal responsibility.  In general, someone who acts without mental culpability is not criminally accountable. Strict liability crimes are exceptions to the rule. Furthermore, when a person aims to hurt someone but the intent is moved from an intended target to an unintended victim due to poor aim or another reason, the case is termed an instance of transferred intent.

In the Indian Penal Code 1860, Mens Rea lays down the definitions of offences, basic conditions of culpability, circumstances of immunity, and punishments for the various offences. The common law theory of mens rea had not been applied by legislatures in defining these offences. They opted, however, to import it by using various terminology to indicate the required evil intent or mens rea as an essential of a specific crime. Although the term “mens rea” does not appear in the IPC, its manifestation can be found in almost every section of the Penal Code. Every act of criminality under the IPC entails the possibility of a criminal cause or mens rea in some form or another. The General Exceptions rule out any circumstances that appear to be inconsistent with the presence of the blameworthy mind or the required mens rea, and so absolves the perpetrators of criminal liability. Nonetheless, there appears to be no consensus among legal experts on how they feel about the consultations.

Guilt in respect to almost all offences created under the IPC is fastened either on the ground of intention, knowledge or reason to believe. Almost all the offences under the IPC are qualified by one or other words such as ‘wrongful gain or loss’, ‘dishonesty‘, ‘fraudulently‘, ‘reason to believe’, ‘criminal knowledge or intention’, ‘intentional cooperation’, ‘voluntarily’, ‘malignantly’, ‘wantonly’, ‘maliciously’. All these words indicate the blameworthy mental condition required at the time of commission of the offence, nowhere found in the IPC, its essence is reflected in almost all the provisions of the Indian Penal Code 1860. Every offence created under the IPC virtually imports the idea of criminal intent or mens rea in some form or other. [1]

Mens Rea is a major component of wrongdoing in any criminal law, unless the comparable is expressly prohibited by law or has significant repercussions. Occasionally, the resolutions state that one person should be held responsible for the wrongdoing of another.

References- [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea#India

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

Do follow me on Facebook, Twitter  Youtube and Instagram.

The copyright of this Article belongs exclusively to Ms. Aishwarya Sandeep. Reproduction of the same, without permission will amount to Copyright Infringement. Appropriate Legal Action under the Indian Laws will be taken.

If you would also like to contribute to my website, then do share your articles or poems at adv.aishwaryasandeep@gmail.com

We also have a Facebook Group Restarter Moms for Mothers or Women who would like to rejoin their careers post a career break or women who are enterpreneurs.

We are also running a series Inspirational Women from January 2021 to March 31,2021, featuring around 1000 stories about Indian Women, who changed the world. #choosetochallenge