Court caseAIR 1933 Cal 893

The accused, who had promised marriage to a young widow, made her pregnant. To get rid of the pregnancy he brought her a bottle of liquid and a powder (said to be copper sulphate) and pressed her to take them to cause a miscarriage. She tasted the liquid, found it burning, and did not take the rest; the powder was never consumed. The medical evidence was that neither substance was capable of causing a miscarriage in the quantities and form given. He was convicted by the Sessions Court of attempting to cause miscarriage (s. 312 read with s. 511 IPC) and appealed.

The High Court set aside the conviction. Lort-Williams J held that what the accused did was not an act towards the commission of the offence of causing miscarriage, because the means he used could never have caused it: the substances were innocuous. An attempt must be an act which, if not interrupted or frustrated by some cause independent of the accused's will, would produce the offence. Where the failure is due to the inherent impossibility of the means, there is no attempt, although there may be a moral wrong. The court contrasted the case where a man fires a loaded gun and misses or the pocket is empty, where the act is capable of success and only chance defeats it.