Elements of crime: actus reus and mens rea; mens rea in statutory offences and its exceptions

LUG-106 Substantial Law of Crimes-I (The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 - I), Unit I: Elements of crime: actus reus and mens rea. · LLB · 60 min

The maxim actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea and the four elements of a crime: a person, a guilty mind, a prohibited act or illegal omission, and injury. How the Sanhita builds mens rea into each offence through words such as intentionally, knowingly, voluntarily, dishonestly, fraudulently and rashly (s. 2), how omissions are made acts (ss. 2(25), 3(4), 3(7)), and when a statute dispenses with mens rea altogether: Sherras v. De Rutzen, Ravule Hariprasada Rao, Mayer Hans George and Nathulal. Asked in 2024-25 Q1(a) and 2025-26 Q1(b) and (c).

Objectives

Explain the maxim actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea and its place in the Sanhita
Identify the four elements of a crime with the section of the BNS that supplies each
Explain actus reus, including illegal omission (ss. 2(15), 2(25), 3(4)) and causation
Explain the mens rea words of s. 2 BNS and the degrees of mens rea
Apply the presumption of mens rea to a statutory offence and state its exceptions with cases

Slides

The maxim and the four elements
Element one: a person, including a company (s. 2(26))
Element three: actus reus, act and illegal omission
Actus reus continued: causation
Element two: mens rea, the words the Sanhita uses
The degrees of mens rea and why they matter
Element four: injury (s. 2(14)), and the crimes that need none
Mens rea in statutory offences: the English starting point
The Indian rule: Hariprasada Rao and Nathulal
The exception in action: State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George (1965)
The exceptions to mens rea, collected
How the examiner asks it

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