What is a crime?
Everything that is illegal is considered a crime. Every crime, from illegal behavior to illegal activity by one or more individuals, is punished. In layman’s terms, a crime is an illegal act penalized by the state or another governing entity. When a crime is committed, there are always steps involved. Everything is done in a professional manner.

When a crime is committed, there are always steps involved. Everything is done in a professional manner. The stages in the commission of a crime are:
1) intention/purpose to commit a crime,
2) preparation for its commission,
3) attempt to commit it, and
4) commission of the crime after all three phases have been successfully completed.

Stages of crime in detail:
1.) INTENTION to commit a crime- In the commission of any crime, the very first stage is intention/purpose, also known as Mens rea (criminal intent) in legal language. The mental stage is another name for it. It is done in this way because anything, whether it be a crime or something else, must first be processed in the brain. However, the mere intention or thought of committing a crime without carrying it out does not constitute a crime. The accused cannot be prosecuted at this time since proving a person’s guilty thinking is manifestly difficult for the prosecution.

This is an important stage since it is at this point that the person decides whether or not to carry out his dishonest plans. He intends to harm others, but he has yet to take any action that demonstrates his goal. Furthermore, no one can prove an intention because not even the devil can read a human mind. As a result, this stage, often known as the stepping stone to the beginning of any act, is not deemed a crime and hence is not punishable.

Intention, however, is a necessary component of the crime because there can be no crime without the purpose to hurt. On the other hand, if there is a purpose to hurt, even a thoughtless act without any planning can be a crime.

To put it another way, at this point A individual gathers his nefarious ideas and devises methods for carrying them out. There has been no action taken, and no harm has been done to anyone, nor is there any intention of doing so.

A, for example, is planning to stab his wife in response to her taunting. The mere intention of the stabbing is not punished in this case; nevertheless, if A had really carried out his plan and attacked his wife, he would be held accountable for the crime he intended to conduct.

2.) PREPARATION for its commission- The intention to injure others begins to exhibit itself in the form of bodily actions at this point. Preparation includes gathering or constructing the items required to carry out the crime. For example, buying a knife with the intent of stabbing someone (referring to the above example) Preparation is not considered a crime in general since the objective of the preparation cannot be shown beyond a reasonable doubt.

Purchasing a knife with the aim to kill someone, for example, is not a crime because it is impossible to tell whether the knife was purchased to kill someone or to chop vegetables, and therefore preparation involves putting in place the essential measures to carry out the intended criminal act.

The Indian Penal Code does not penalize offenses committed during the planning stages. Under the IPC, mere preparation is punishable only in certain circumstances, such as when the preparation is for waging a war against the state (Section 122), committing dacoity (Section 399), or counterfeiting coins and government stamps (Ss. 233-235).

Intention alone, or intention plus preparation, is insufficient to create a crime. Preparation is not punished since the prosecution has failed to prove that the preparations in question were made for the commission of the specific crime in the majority of cases.

Continuing with the last scenario, A decides to stab his wife, so he goes to the market to buy a knife, which he does and then returns home, but he changes his mind, and instead of murdering his wife, he chops vegetables with the knife. A has not done anything wrong.

3.) ATTEMPT to commit it- Following the preparations, an attempt is a direct movement towards the commission. To be considered an attempt, an act must be performed with the intent of committing an offence and for the purpose of committing the offence, and it must be performed while attempting to conduct the offence. An attempt can only be demonstrated by actions that would result in the completion of the offence but for the involvement of circumstances beyond the party’s control.

The essentials of an attempt are:
A guilty intention to commit an offence.
Some acts done towards the commission of the crime.
Actual offence not committed.

According to the Supreme Court, a person commits the crime of “attempt” to commit a specific crime when he intends to commit that specific crime and, after making preparations and intending to commit the crime, commits an act toward its completion. Such an act does not have to be the penultimate act in the commission of that offence, but it must occur during the commission of that offence.
An attempt is deemed punishable since every effort, whether it succeeds or fails, must produce anxiety, which is the harm in and of itself, and the offender’s moral responsibility is the same as if it succeeds.

The distinction between ATTEMPT and PREPARATION- Preparation is not punishable, but attempting to commit a crime is. This is because preparation is often a harmless deed. For example, if A buys a knife from the market to stab his wife, it is only called preparation if he has not done any movement of actually stabbing his wife, but if he does, it may contribute to an attempt.

4.) COMMISSION/COMPLETION of the crime- The accomplishment or completion of an offence is the final stage of its commission. If the accused succeeds in his attempt to commit the crime, he will be found guilty of the entire offence; if he fails, he will only be found guilty of an attempt.

If A goes to the store to buy a knife and then comes home and stabs his wife in the back, killing her, A will be charged with murder, however, if she is simply injured, it will be charged with attempted murder. Both of these offences are punished.

Conclusion- The conclusion of this study on the stages of crime commission is that each stage must be considered when charging someone as an offender or criminally liable, and that all stages must be fulfilled or satisfied at the same time, and that even if one stage is missing, it will not amount to a crime under the IPC.

ENDNOTES:
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-3907-stages-in-commission-of-crime.html

                                                                                                   
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