Extortion in Criminal Law

1. Extortion
By : Siti Nur Jannah Bt Hasanuddin
1122051
TLB 5

2. • Definition (s.383)
• Elements :
• 1) fear of injury (s.44) - Jadunandan Singh & Anor (force)
• - implied threat - words - Beh Tuck Seng v R
• - umlawful demand - PP v Kang Siew Chong
• 2) intentionally / voluntarily (s.39)
• 3) dishonestly induce (s.24) - R v Abdul Kader
• 4) deliver to any person
• - any person (s.11)
• - any property (s.22)
• - valuable security (s.30) - Emperor v Ramnarian Sahu
• General Punishment (s.384)
• Differences extortion & theft/robbery/corruption
(Loh Kwang Seang v PP)
• Types of extortion (s.385 to s.389)

3. Introduction
• A serious offence; a person who commits
extortion can be arrested without warrant and
is not bailable.
• robbery > EXTORTION> theft
• Provided under Section 383 (definition),
Section 384 to Section 389 (prescribed the
general and aggravated forms of extortion offence)
• English CL, extortion is replaced with
‘blackmail’

4. Definition (Section 383)
• whoever intentionally puts any person in fear of
any injury to that person or to any other, and
thereby dishonestly induces the person in fear to
deliver to any person or any property or
valuable security.
• illustration (a) to (d)
• For instance, A threatens to publish a defamatory
libel concerning B, unless B gives him money. A
thus induces B to give him money.
• A liable for extortion

5. Elements
• Case Nayak RS v Antulay AR (1986) Cr LJ
1922 SC, where the appellant in this case
lodged a report against the respondent
which at that time was the Chief Minister
of the state of Maharashtra.

6. • Held : in order to be convicted in extortion, the
prosecution must proved that
• (1) the accused has put any person in fear of any
injury to the person or any other
• (2) the accused has intentionally caused that fear
of injury to any person
• (3) the accused has induced that person to
deliver to any person any property or valuable
security, or anything signed or sealed which may
be converted into a valuable security
• (4) the inducement was done with dishonesty.

7. 1) Fear of any injury
• Section 44 of the Penal Code defines injury as any
harm whatever illegally caused to any in body,
mind, reputation or property.
• It is clear that the injury may also include other
types of injury such as injury to the mind,
reputation and damage or loss of property.
• Thus, the prosecutor must prove that the victim
was put in fear of injury and that fear must exist
in the victim mind at the time he surrenders the
property or valuable security.

8. • However, if the extorter removed the property or
valuable security from the victim, the element of
putting a person in fear of injury and thereby
inducing the delivering of the property is not
fulfilled.
• Jadunandan Singh & Anor AIR (1941) 129
• The accused attacked the victim by force which
he put the victim’s thumbprint on a few pieces of
blank paper. Then, he used it as valueable
securities. He was charged under the offence of
extortion. But the court acquited the accused on
the charge of extortion and convicted him with
the offence of using criminal force.

9. (i) Implied threat
• words that express intention of causing injury or harm to
another person may also amount to threat.
• It is illustrated in Section 383, illustrations (a), (b) and (c).
• Beh Tuck Seng v R (1947) MLJ 197
• where the appellant approached the complainant and said
that he wanted to collect 10.80 for expenses. He further said
that ‘everyone here has joined, what about you?’ The
complainant who was the stall holder took this as a threat and
fear that if he did not paid, he would be beaten or the stall
will be ruined. Thus, he paid the money.
• Held, it is clear that the complainant was put in fear and that
he was induced to hand over the money.
• The court has taken into the matter of construction of the
words.

10. (ii) Unlawful demand
• the person who is entrusted with certain power, may
also be convicted for extortion when he puts a person
in fear of injury by exercising his legal power against
that person if his demand of paymnet is not met.
• Public Prosecutor v Kang Siew Chong (1968) 2 MLJ 39
• where the accused, a police constable was charged
with attempted extortion by puting a courting couple,
sitting in close proximity, in fear of injury and thereby
induce them to paid him RM 50. If not, he threatened
to take them to the police station.
• Held that the accused was guilty for extortion as there
was an abuse of the exercise of the power. Hence, it
was illegal.

11. 2) Intentionally/ voluntarily
• intentionally means the person intended to cause it. It
can be also known as voluntarily.
• Section 39 of the Penal Code provide the definition of
voluntarily as a person is said to cause an effect
‘voluntarily’ when he causes it by means whereby he
intended to cause it, or by means which at the time of
employing those means, he knew or had reason to
believe to be likely cause it.
• For example, A sets fire to an empty house for the
purpose of robbery and thus cause the death of a
person. Here, A is not intended to cause death, yet, if
he knew that his action was likely to cause death, he is
said to cause death voluntarily

12. 3) Dishonestly induces
• The act must induce someone to do a certain
thing. The inducement must be done dishonestly.
• Section 24 - ‘dishonestly’ as whoever does
anything with the intention of causing wrongful
gain to one person, or wrongful loss to another
person, irrespective of whether the act causes
actual wrongful losss or gain, is said to do that
thing dishonestly.
• Thus, when an accused in good faith believes that
the victim has taken his money, then an attempt
to take back is not an intenttion to cause
wrongful loss to the accused.

13. • This is shown in an Indian case of R v Abdul Kader
Valad Bala Abuji, (1866) Crown Cases 45, HC
Bombay
• where the accused had purchased from the
government some rights with respect to the
gathering of firewood. He misconstrued the
extent of the right and demanded payment from
the complainants for some wood that they had
gathered .
• He was found not guilty of extortion on a number
of grounds including the absence of dishonesty.
Even if his belief was unfounded, he did not
intend wrongful gain or loss.

14. 4) Deliver to any person
• means, it is not necessary that the person who
extorts receives the extorted property.
• The ingredient of extortion is the actual
delivery of ownership of a property by the
person who is being put in fear.
• For instance, A extorts C, and B to receive the
extorted goods from C. This is possible
because it has been mutually agreed to by A
and B.
• Hence, both A and B are guilty of extorting C.

15. -Any person
• Section 11 of the Penal Code, which include
any company or registered association or body
of persons, whether incororated or not.
• It means, if A extorts a company or registered
association, then A is said to have extorted a
person.

16. - Any property
• encompasses both moveable and immovable
property.
• Section 22 of the Penal Code define moveable
property to include corporeal property of
every description, except land and things
attached to the earth.
• Hence, property like cars, clothes, jewelleries,
cattles and etc come within the definition of
moveable property

17. - valuable security
• Section 30 define valuable security to denote a
document which is, or purports to be, a document
whereby any legal right is created, extended,
transferred, restricted, extinguished, or released or
whereby any person acknowledges that he lies under
legal liability or has not a certain legal right.
• For example, A writes his name on the back of a bill of
exchange. It is known as endorsement as the right to
the bill will be transfer to any person who become the
lawful holder. This is regards as valuable security.

18. • this section does not draw a distinction
between a stamped or signed document and
whether it is signed by an adult or minor.
• An Indian case, Emperor v Ramnarian Sahu,
(1933) 15 PLT 66, 35 Cr LJ 124
• where a minor was forced to make a credit
note. The court held that the credit note was
regarded as a valuable security .
• Held : accused was guilty for extortion.

19. General Punishment
• Section 384, the punishments is general where
the defendant will be liable to imprisonment
maximum 10 years or fine or whipping or both.
• There are a few lesser offences, where threat are
made in order to comit extortion such as Section
385, 387, 389. This offences is known as
attempted extortion where the accused has put
the victim in fear but the property has not yet
been delivered.
• Where as in cases, where the accused had
uttered the threat but the victim had not been
put in fear, Section 511 (attempted) will be apply.

20. Extortion Theft
1) Comission of
act
Intentionally puts
any person in
fear of injury,
thereby
dishonestly
induce to deliver
the any property
Taking a property
without consent
/ against the
owner’s will
2) Subject matter Both; immovable
& movable
Movable

21. Robbery Extortion
1)
Commission
of
the act
the property is
taken away
from the victim
without his
consent
the property is taken
away from the victim
with his consent,
though it is unwilling
2) Threat immediate
physical threat
immediate as well as
future threat like loss
of money, reputation,
and etc

22. Corruption Extortion
if A a police officer know that B
has committed an offence and
its his duty to take action
against him, but A threaten B to
take action against him unless B
pays him a sum of money.
= A has committed the offences
of corruption and extortion
if A acting outside the scope of
his duty as police officer,
represents falsely to B, that the
act done by B constitute
criminal offence, and
dishonestly induce B to give
him money.
= A is guilty of extortion only as
A at the material time was not
in the course of his duty.

23. Loh Kwang Seang v Public Prosecutor
(1960) MLJ 271
• The complainant had recently made a trip to China
• When he return to Penang, he was interrogated by the appellant, a police
Inspector,
• whereupon the complainant admitted that he had taken with him to China a sum
of $500.
• The appellant then told him that because he had taken the money to China, he
(the appellant) could detain him, cancel his citizenship certificate, take his finger-
prints and change his identity card into a black one.
• The appellant then told him that since he had been in this country, for many years
and had never been in trouble before, if he gave the appellant $150 nothing would
happen to him.
• The complainant could raise $135 only and offered this sum to the appellant.
• Held : a case of plain extortion as the appellant falsely represents to the
complainant that the act he done was an offence and at the material time the
appellant was acting outside the scope of his duty.

24. Types of extortion
• putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion in
section 385
• putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt, Section 386
• putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt in order to
commit extortion, Section 387.
• extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable
with death, or imprisonment , Section 388
• threatening to accuse a person of an ofence punishable with
imprisonment in order to commit extortion, Section 389