Extent and application of the Sanhita (s. 1) and the general explanations (s. 3): joint liability and common intention
LUG-106 Substantial Law of Crimes-I (The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 - I), Unit II: Definitions and general explanations (ss. 2-3). · LLB · 60 min
This lecture opens Unit II with the two framework sections that every other section of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 depends on. Section 1 tells us where and to whom the Sanhita applies, within India and beyond it; s. 3 contains the general explanations, of which s. 3(5) (the old s. 34 IPC) on common intention is the most examined rule in the whole paper. We read the text, the Sanhita's own illustrations and the line of cases from Barendra Kumar Ghosh to Subed Ali, and we separate common intention from the common object of an unlawful assembly under s. 190.
Objectives
- Explain the territorial and extra-territorial application of the BNS under s. 1(3) to 1(6), including ships, aircraft and offences targeting computer resources in India.
- Explain the general explanations in s. 3(1) to 3(9) and the IPC sections they replace.
- Define common intention under s. 3(5) and state its ingredients with the leading cases.
- Distinguish common intention (s. 3(5)) from similar intention and from common object (s. 190).
- Apply the rules of joint liability to a problem such as a group assault or a dacoity with murder.
Slides
- The Sanhita and its first section: title, commencement, scheme
- Intra-territorial operation: s. 1(3) (s. 2 IPC)
- Extra-territorial operation: s. 1(4) to 1(6) (ss. 3-5 IPC)
- Section 3: the general explanations, sub-sections (1) to (4)
- Section 3(5): common intention, the text and the ingredients
- Barendra Kumar Ghosh (1925) and Mahbub Shah (1945): the two Privy Council pillars
- Pandurang (1955), Satvir (2009) and Subed Ali (2020): the Supreme Court's refinements
- Sections 3(6) to 3(9): knowledge, act and omission, cooperation, different offences
- Common intention v common object: s. 3(5) against s. 190 (s. 149 IPC)
- An application: dacoity with murder, s. 310(3) (s. 396 IPC) and State of U.P. v. Sukhpal Singh
- How the examiner asks it
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