Stages of Crime

Q.1 What are the various stages of crime? How attempt differs from preparation?

       Explain Mens -rea.

Ans. Generally, an offence passes through the following four stages:-

(i)  Conceiving the idea of performing a legally defined harm or Mens Rea:- At this stages, a person consolidates his devious ideas and identifies ways of doing it. There is no action taken and there is no harm done to anybody nor is there any intention to cause injury to anybody. 

Mens Rea or bad intention is significant progress from mere deliberation towards the actual commission of the crime. At this stage, the person has made up his mind to actually implement or execute his devious plans. There is an intention to cause harm but he hasn't yet taken any action that manifests his intention, So, it is not a crime in itself. But this is an essential ingredient of crime because, without bad intention to cause harm or do wrong, there can be no crime. Also, even a thoughtless act, without any deliberation, can be a crime if there is an intention to cause crime.

               

Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea:- a guilty act together with a guilty mind constitute a crime. Thus, actus reus – the result prohibited by law, and mens rea – the guilty mind.

(ii) Preparation for crime :- Preparation consists of arranging or building things that are needed to commit the crime. At this stage, the intention to cause harm starts manifesting itself in the form of physical actions. At this stage, it is, however, possible for the person to abandon his course of action without causing any harm to anyone. Generally, preparation is itself alone, not a crime because it cannot be proved beyond doubt the goal of preparation. For eg; buying match-box and kerosene oil to burn a house, alone, cannot be determined as an offence. However, certain preparations for committing an the offence is a crime is:-

(a) Collecting arms with the intention of waging war against the government of India (Sec-122)

(b) Preparing to commit depredation on territories of any power in alliance or at peace with the Govt. of India (Sec-126)

(c) Counter feiting operations for currency (Sec-235)

(d) Preparation to commit dacoity (Sec-399)

 (iii) Attempt to commit an offence:- This stage is attained by performing physical actions that, if left unstopped, cause or are bound to cause injury to someone. Since the intention of the person can be determined without doubt from his actions, an attempt to commit a crime is bound to happen and prevention of crime is equally important for a healthy society. For eg.- According to Sec-307, if a person intentionally does something to kill another and if the other person is not killed, he would be liable for attempt to murder. However, his action must be capable of killing. It is also clear that a person is liable under this section even if no injury is caused to anyone. However, if hurt is caused, the punishment is more severe, Case laws: -a) Om Prakash Vs. State of Punjab, AIR 1961 b) State of Maharashtra Vs. Balram Bana Patil, AIR 1983 Attempts are dealt with in IPC in three ways

a) Sec-196 and 197 deal with the offence as well as an attempt for that offence.

b) Sec-307 and 308 deal with an attempt of an offence.

c) Sec-511 deal with the attempts for offences those are not covered in the act.

Differences between Preparation & Attempt Both preparation and attempt are the physical manifestations of the criminal intention. There is a very fine line between preparation and attempt. An attempt goes a lot farther than preparation towards the actual happening of crime. In preparation, there is a possibility that the person may abandon his plan, but attempt leaves no room for that. In general, preparation involves collecting material resources and planning for committing an act while attempt signifies a direct movement towards commission after the preparations are made. Case law :- R Vs. Cheesman, 1862. There are four tests that can distinguish between the preparation & attempt clearly. 

They are:-

(i) Proximity Rule or Last step Test: As per this test, anything short of the last step is preparation and not attempt. This is because as long as there is a step remaining for completion of the crime, the person can abandon it.

(ii) Theory of Impossibility or Indispensable Element Test: As per this test, all of the indispensable elements must be present to equal attempt. If there is something a person needs to commit the crime but it is not present, then there is not an attempt.

(iii) Interruption Test:- If the action proves that the person would have gone through with the plan if not for the interruption such as arrest, then it is an attempt. It means if a person has not been interrupted, he would have committed the crime, he is guilty of attempt even though the last step of the crime has not been performed.

(iv) On the Job or Unequivocality Test:- If a person does something that shows his commitment to follow through and commit the crime then it is an attempt. So, attempt is done when the offender takes deliberate and overt steps that show an unequivocal intention to commit the offence even if the step is not the penultimate one.