BY: DIPANSHA AGRAWAL
LLOYD LAW COLLEGE
INTRODUCTION:
India is a vast country and now it is the first largest nation in the number of populations. People do different kinds of offence, in which some offences are civil and some are criminal. for dealing with the criminal offence there is a code named as an Indian penal code. This code is deal with the punishment and there are different kinds of sections which is define under this code. This is a substantive law. Indian penal code has 511 sections which are divided into 23 chapters and each chapter deal with different category of offences of crime. Criminal force is one of the offences which is defined under section 350 of IPC. Many people think that force and criminal force are same in nature but it is different from each other and both are defined under different section 349 and 350 of IPC. In this article we discussed about the section 350 of IPC. (Criminal Force)
HISTORY OF IPC
There are many codes which is already draft in the British era, IPC is one of them. The first draft of the IPC was prepared by the first law commission, chaired by Thomas Babington Macaulay. The code came into force on 1st January, 1860. 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 criminal force which is discussed in this article below.
DEFINITION OF CRIMINAL FORCE
Whoever intentionally uses force to any person, without that person’s consent, in order to the committing of any offence, or intending by the use of such force to cause, or knowing it to be likely that by the use of such force he will cause injury, fear or annoyance to the person to whom the force is used, is said to use criminal force to that other.
MEANING
When a person uses force intentionally without another person’s consent for committing of any offence and intentionally use such force to cause or knowing or likely use force to cause injury, fear or annoyance to that person to whom the force is used is liable for the criminal force. punishment for the offender is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 3 months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.
Three essentials of criminal force:
- a) there must be use of force without the consent of the person.
- b) the force should be used intentionally,
- c) the force must have been used.
1: to commit an offence, or
2: to cause or knowingly to be likely to cause any injury, fear or annoyance to the person to whom the force is used.
ILLUSTRATIONS:
For more understanding some of the illustrations are discussed below:
ILLUSTRATION 1: A person X encourages a dog to jump upon Y without Y’s consent. Here, if X intends to cause injury, fear or annoyance to Y, he uses criminal force to X.
ILLUSTRATION 2: A person A is bathing, B another one poured boiling water into the bathing water by knowing it is boiling water. This shows the intention of A to bring that water in contact with B which affects his sense of feeling A has, therefore, intentionally used force to B; and if he has done this without B’s consent intending or knowing it to be likely that he may thereby cause injury, A has used criminal force.
ILLUSTRATION 3: A is having a personal grudge to cause serious injuries to B. A pulls B’s chair when he is about to sit. As a result, B falls, causing him several fractures. Here, A with malice intent to cause injury to B committed the offence defined under section 350 IPC.
DIFFERNCE BETWEEN ASSAULT AND CRIMINAL FORCE
- Criminal force is defined under section 350 of the Indian penal code and Assault is defined under section 351 of Indian penal code.
- Criminal force is the use of intentional force on any person to cause any injury or harm or fear while Assault denotes the preparatory acts which cause apprehension of use of criminal force against the person.
- Even use of criminal force includes an assault. There is an apprehension of use of force only and no use of real force.
- Physical contact exists in criminal force while in assault no physical contact is exist.
5.The action of the wrongdoer is completed in criminal force while assault is an attempt to commit criminal force.
6.In criminal force, assault is consummated by means and ability of that person. In assault, the accused must be having enough means and ability to carry his threat into the intended result.
7.No belief of ability is needed. The application of force is actionable even though it is the slightest amount of force. Assault is necessary that the person assaulted believes that the assaulting person has the ability to apply the force so attempted by him, on reasonable grounds.
- Criminal force has something more in it as the intentional application of force to the person of another without lawful justification is necessary. Assault is an overt act indicating sudden intention to commit criminal force coupled with the capacity of carrying out the intention into effect.
- As soon as the thrown falls on the person, it becomes a
criminal force. Throwing water upon a person is an assault.
10.More serious form of offence when compared to assault. A less serious form offence compared to criminal force.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORCE AND CRIMINAL FORCE:
For more clarity we must understand the difference between force and criminal force are:
The first and most important difference between force and criminal force is that the force is defined under section 349 of Indian penal code and criminal force is defined under section 350 of Indian penal code.
The second difference between force and criminal force is that the force is not a substantive offence and criminal force is a substantive offence. substantive offence does not have elements to perform some other crime.
The third difference between force and criminal force is that force does ot cause any legal injury due to the absence of a mental element. While criminal force is due to the presence of a mental element, and it also affects the legal injury.
CASE LAWS
Some important case laws are discussed below:
- Nani Gopal Das v. Bhima Charan Rakshit
The court stated that the presence of the person whom the force is alleged to be used is mandatory to prove that there was the use of force or criminal force.
- Bihari Lal v. Emperor
In this case, the court observed that in criminal force the physical presence of a person, against whom the criminal force is alleged to be used is required.
3.Kalar Din vs Emperor (1941): In this case, the court held that criminal force must be directed against a person and not a thing.
CONCLUSION
By concluding this article section 350 of the Indian penal code is talked about the criminal force and When a person uses force intentionally without the another person’s consent for committing of any offence and intentionally use such force to cause or knowing or likely use force to cause injury, fear or annoyance to that person to whom the force is used is liable for the criminal force. punishment for the offender is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 3 months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both. The force, criminal force and assault is different from each other that we discussed above. force is defined under section 349 and assault is defined under section 351 of the Indian penal code.
REFERENCES:https://www.writinglaw.com/what-is-force-and-criminal-force-in-ipc/https://indiankanoon.org/doc/179037/#:~:text=Criminal%20force.%E2%80%94Whoever%20intentionally%20uses,to%20whom%20the%20force%20ishttps://lawcorner.in/force-criminal-force-and-assault-under-i-p-c-and-distinction-between-them-explain/#CRIMINAL_FORCE_Section-_350https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-5724-force-and-criminal-force.html
REFERENCES:
https://www.writinglaw.com/what-is-force-and-criminal-force-in-ipc/
https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-5724-force-and-criminal-force.html