Attempt: the stages of crime, the tests that separate attempt from preparation, and the specific attempt provisions (s. 62)
LUG-106 Substantial Law of Crimes-I (The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 - I), Unit III: Attempt (s. 62). · LLB · 60 min
Attempt is the last inchoate offence in Chapter IV: an act done towards the commission of an offence, with the intention of committing it, which fails to complete it. Section 62 BNS (s. 511 IPC) is the residuary provision, and ss. 109, 110 and 226 (ss. 307, 308 and the former s. 309 IPC) deal with particular attempts. This lecture recaps the four stages of crime, reads s. 62 with its two illustrations, and works through the tests the courts use to draw the line between preparation and attempt: proximity (Abhayanand Mishra, Sudhir Kumar Mukherjee), locus poenitentiae (Malkiat Singh against Mohd. Yakub), equivocality, social danger and impossibility (Asgarali Pradhania). It closes with attempt to murder (Om Parkash), attempt to commit suicide and the right to die (Gian Kaur, the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, s. 226 BNS) and attempt to rape against outraging modesty (Koppula Venkat Rao).
Objectives
- Explain the four stages of a crime and why the law punishes attempt but, as a rule, not preparation.
- Explain s. 62 BNS, its illustrations and its measure of punishment, and identify the specific attempt provisions that displace it.
- Apply the proximity, locus poenitentiae, equivocality, social danger and impossibility tests to a problem, with the leading cases.
- Explain the position on attempt to commit suicide after Gian Kaur, the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 and s. 226 BNS, and the line between attempt to rape and outraging modesty.
Slides
- The four stages of a crime and why attempt is punished
- What s. 62 says: the residuary provision and its two illustrations
- Ingredients of attempt and the definitions
- Test 1: proximity. Abhayanand Mishra (1961) and Sudhir Kumar Mukherjee (1973)
- Test 2: locus poenitentiae. Malkiat Singh (1970) against Mohd. Yakub (1980)
- Tests 3-5: equivocality, social danger and impossibility (Asgarali Pradhania)
- Attempt to murder and attempt to commit culpable homicide: ss. 109 and 110 (Om Parkash)
- Attempt to commit suicide: s. 309 IPC, Gian Kaur, the Mental Healthcare Act and s. 226 BNS
- Attempt to rape against outraging modesty: Koppula Venkat Rao (2004)
- What the BNS changed, and a comparison of the three inchoate offences
- How the examiner asks attempt
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