Four Stages of Commission of a Crime | Legal Reasoning for CLAT PDF Download

Introduction

• Criminal law is a body that defines the acts which are illegal and can affect the individual, property, and society. 
• Crime threatens and harms public welfare and safety. Moreover, criminal law is different from civil law as the latter emphasizes more on providing resolution rather than punishment. 
• Whenever a crime happens and that too intentionally, there is a full-fledged process or stages behind it. 

In the case of every crime, firstly there is an intention to commit it, secondly, preparation to commit it, thirdly, an attempt to commit it and lastly the accomplishment.

1) Intention

• The intention is the first stage of any offence and is known as the mental or psycho stage. 

• Intention refers to doing anything with one’s will, desire, voluntariness, dishonesty, and for a specific reason.

• In this stage, the offender decides the motive and decides his course or direction toward the offence. 

• The fact about this stage is that the law cannot punish a person just for having an intention to do any illegal act.

• Moreover, being a mental concept, it is very difficult to judge if a person possesses any such intention. Just having an intention will not constitute an offence.

Example: If a man drives rashly and recklessly, causing an accident that results in a person’s death, the irresponsible driver cannot claim innocence by claiming that he never intended to kill the victim. It could be correct in the true sense.

2) Preparation

• Preparation is the second stage of the stages of crime. 

• It means arranging the necessary resources to execute the intentional criminal act. 

• Intention and preparation alone are not enough to constitute a crime.

• Preparation is not punishable because in many cases the prosecution fails to prove that the preparations in question are for the execution of the particular crime.

• However, in some exceptional circumstances, mere preparation is also punished.

Preparation When Punishable:

When the offence is regarded as a serious offence, preparation to commit offences is penalized under the Indian Penal Code. A few of them are mentioned below:

1. Warfare preparations against the government (Section 122 of IPC).

2. Preparing coins or government stamps for counterfeiting (Sections 233 to 235, 255, and 257 of IPC).

3. Having counterfeit money, fraudulent documents, or fake weights and measurements (Sections 242, 243, 259, 266).

4. Making plans to commit dacoity (Section 399 of IPC).

Example: A jeweller with the object of fraudulently obtaining insurance money hid his stock of jewellery, tied himself up beneath a chair and cried for help. The police passing along the road hearing the noise entered the house and found the jeweller in a helpless position. The police were told that the jeweller has been robbed after tying him in this helpless position. The safe was found open and jewellery missing. Subsequent investigation revealed that the jeweller had made these false pretensions not to obtain money from the insurance company. The jeweller himself confessed it. Here the jeweller cannot be convicted of an attempt to obtain money by false pretences, as his acts had been merely acts of preparation for the crime and not a step towards it.

3) Attempt

• An attempt is a direct movement towards the execution of a crime after the preparation of the plan. 

• Attempt to commit an offence can be said to begin when the preparations are complete and the culprit commences to do something with the intention of committing the offence and which is a step towards the commission of the offence.

To constitute an attempt the following elements are necessary:

(i) Men's rea to commit the offence.

(ii) An act that constitutes the actus reus of a criminal attempt.

(iii) Failure in accomplishment (i.e. the act must fall short of the completion of the intended crime)

The sections on attempts in the IPC can be classified into three broad categories:
(i) Sections in which the conduct of an offence and the attempt to commit an offence are dealt with in the same section. In which there is the same punishment for both offence and the attempt.
Offences against the state include waging or attempting to wage war against the Indian government, assaulting or attempting to assault the president or governor with the intent to compel or limit the exercise of lawful power, sedition, and dacoity, among others.

(ii) Those offences in which the attempt to execute specific offences is dealt with alongside the actual offences. But separate and distinct punishments have been provided for the attempt. For example, attempting to commit a crime punishable by death or life imprisonments, such as robbery or murder.

(iii) Suicide attempts are particularly covered by section 309 of the IPC.

Illustrations

1. A makes an attempt to steal some jewels by breaking open a box and finds, after so opening the box, that there is no jewel in it. He has done an act towards the commission of theft and therefore is guilty of attempt to theft.

2. A makes an attempt to pick the pocket of Z by thrusting his hand into Z’s pocket. A fails in the attempt in consequence of Z’s having nothing
   in his pocket. A is guilty of attempting to commit theft.

3. An intending to murder Z buys a gun and loads it. A is not yet guilty of an attempt to commit murder. A fires the gun at Z, he is guilty of an attempt to commit murder.

4. A, intending to murder Z, by poison, purchases poison and mixes the same with food that remains in A’s keeping. A is not yet guilty of an attempt to commit murder. A places the food on Z’s table or delivers it to Z’s servant to place it on Z’s table. A is guilty of an attempt to commit murder.

Factual Situation: A, applied to Patna University for permission to appear at the M.A. Examination in English as a private candidate representing that he was teaching in a certain school. In support of his application, he attached certain experience certificates purporting to be from the Head Master of the school and the Inspector of schools. The permission was granted. Later on, it was found that he was neither a graduate nor a teacher and therefore, the permission was withdrawn.
Here A was held guilty of an attempt to cheat the stage of preparation was complete when the accused prepared the application for submission to the university and the moment it was dispatched the offence of attempt was complete.

4) Accomplishment

• The last stage in the commission of an offence is its successful completion. 

• If the accused becomes successful in his attempt to commit the crime, he will be guilty of the complete offence. 

• Moreover, if his attempt is unsuccessful he will be guilty of his attempt.

Example: A fires at B with the intention to kill him, if B dies, A will be guilty of committing the offence of murder and if B is only injured, it will be a case of an attempt to murder.