BY: DIPANSHA AGRAWAL
LLOYD LAW COLLEGE, GREATER NOIDA
INTRODUCTION
As all we know, crime is the very serious offence and day to day it is increasing. Presently there are approximately 50,000 criminal cases in India. A body of substantive law called the Indian Penal Code contains a list of all offences and their corresponding punishments. The 511 sections of the Indian Penal Code’s 23 chapters each deal with a different category of offence. The India Penal Code’s Chapter XVI, which addresses offences harming the human body, has Section 349, which defines force. Criminal force and assault are covered in this section. There are different types of offences that are conducted daily. Some of the offences are less serious in nature and some of the offences are very serious in nature. Some of the offences like assault battery these are the offences which are less serious but the offences like rape, theft, murder etc. are very serious in nature. One of the offence names is force which is offendable under Indian Penal Code under Section 511. It’s possible that one of these crimes occurs every hour or perhaps every few minutes. Even when someone hits another person, they are still breaking the law. As these crimes increased, it became necessary to criminalize them and enact laws to reduce their frequency. In this article we discussed about the section 349 of Indian Penal Code.
HISTORY OF IPC
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the main criminal code of India. It was first drafted in 1860 by the first Indian Law Commission under the chairmanship of Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay. The code came into operation on January 1, 1862, and has since been amended several times to keep up with changing social norms and legal developments. The IPC is based on the principles of common law and has been influenced by British legal traditions. It defines and provides punishment for criminal offenses such as murder, theft, rape, and fraud. The code also provides guidelines for determining the degree of punishment for each offense, taking into account factors such as the severity of the crime and the criminal’s intent. There are many offences written in IPC like murder, rape, theft, etc. Like these offences there is one offence name as force which is discussed in this article.
DEFINITION
Section 349 of Indian penal code talks about Force.—A person is said to use force to another if he causes motion, change of motion, or cessation of motion to that other, or if he causes to any substance such motion, or change of motion, or cessation of motion as brings that substance into contact with any part of that other’s body, or with anything which that other is wearing or carrying, or with anything so situated that such contact affects that other’s sense of feeling: Provided that the person causing the motion, or change of motion, or cessation of motion, causes that motion, change of motion, or cessation of motion in one of the three ways hereinafter described.
(First) — By his own bodily power.
(Secondly) —By disposing any substance in such a manner that the motion or change or cessation of motion takes place without any further act on his part, or on the part of any other person.
(Thirdly) — By inducing any animal to move, to change its motion, or to cease to move.
MEANING
Force is something when someone causes a motion, a change in motion, a change in motion, or a cessation of motion and brings that motion into contact with another body, belonging, or even affects sense of feeling, that person is said to be using force. there are three ways by which one person can use force to another person:
First, by using one’s own physical strength, that is, B is pushed by A from the top of the structure using his hands. here, A has acted physically.
Second, by disposing of any substance, which entails using physical force to propel a substance; that is, in the middle of B’s nap, A pulls water on him. water was instances by A and it involves such touch that modifies the emotional sensation.
Third, by coercing any animal, that is, A is a person who has a dog and B another person who has threat from the dog. one day A makes his dog bark at B to annoy him and then his dog also barked at B so, here A used his dog to induced B.
Any of the three methods constitutes the use of force, and even if the accused was the one who initially prodded the animal to move or changed the other person’s feelings, they will still be held accountable.
Many people think that force and criminal force is same but there is difference between assault and criminal force. The first and most important difference between force and criminal force is that criminal force is define under section 350 and assault is defined under section 352 of the Indian Penal Code. Criminal force is defined as the intentional use of physical force and to harm another person while knowing that doing so will result in harm to that person. While assault is something by making any gestures or other preparations that give sign of using violence force against someone’s body.
CASE LAWS
Some of the important case laws referred below or better understanding:
Chandrika Sao v. State of Bihar:
The lower court in this case rejected the claim that just taking the book out of the official’s hands—which was the official’s possession at the time—wasn’t using force. The Supreme Court disagreed, stating that the act of stealing the book could satisfy the requirements of section 349. By just taking the book from the official’s hands, it started to move or change its motion, which affected the official’s hands’ sense of touch. It is therefore the accused’s use of force.
Nani Gopal Das v. Bhima Charan Rakshit:
The court ruled that to establish the use of force or illegal force, the person against whom the force is alleged to have been used must be present.
Ramakant Rajaram vs Manual Fernandes (1969):
In this case, it was made clear that section 349 IPC uses the word ‘another.’ Thus, motion or change of motion or cessation of motion caused to property without affecting the human being is not the use of force to another within the meaning of this section. The force must be used with a human being and not an object.
CONCLUSION
In essence, assault is the worry that someone else will suffer harm. With the purpose to cause harm to the other person, it is done to another person using unlawful force. Even though they are less serious infractions, these types of offences are already widespread, necessitating the need for tough rules in this area. To ensure that everyone is protected by the law, the law must be effectively applied. The focus of this article was on the definitions and consequences of the phrases “force,” “criminal force,” and “assault” in the IPC. The aggravated types of assault are not covered in this article. In addition, the essay illustrates the contrast between criminal force and assault, which clarifies the idea.
REFERENCE:
https://www.writinglaw.com/what-is-force-and-criminal-force-in-ipc/
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1346144/
https://blog.ipleaders.in/criminal-force-and-assault/