Abetment to Crime

1. ABETMENT

2. • A person who does not himself commmit a
crime may however
command,urge,encourage,induce,reques-t or
help a third person to bring it .
• That person is guilty of offence of abetment.

3. • Abet means---
• To aid
• To assist
• To give aid
• To command
• To councel
• To encourage
• To induce

4. English law-----------
• In English law persons who themselves are
not the main offenders but who assist or aid
them are known as accessories.

5. English law recognises three type of
accessories:
1. Accessories before the fact
2. Accessories at the fact
3. Accessories after the fact

6. Indian law relating to abetment----
• The law relating to abetmentis contained in
ss 107-120IPC.
• SECTION 107-Abetment of a thing –
• Abetment may commited in any pf the
following three ways----

7. • By instigating the commission of an
offence;or
• By engaging in a conspiracy to comit an
offence;or
• By intentionally aiding the commission of an
offence.

8. Abetment by instigation-
• Example-A says B ,I am going to stab C.B
replies ,you may do what you wish and take
the consequences.A goes and stab C.
• B will liable or not?

9. • Instigating- Means the act of inciting another
to do a wrongful act. One may abet the
commission of an offence by counseling,
suggestions, encouraging, pouring or
commanding another to do an act. In order
to constitute abatement by instigation some
active proceeding towards the preparation of
the crime is necessary.

10. • Mere acquiescence, silent assent or verbal
permission would not constitute instigation.
• A tells B that he intends to murder C,B
says do as you like, A kills C, here B cannot
be said to have instigated.

11. • The persons who are nearby a woman
preparing herself for sati to the pyre,and
chanted Rama Rama,were guilty of abetment
or not?

12. Abetment by conspiracy-
• Example-A,a servant enters into an
agreement with thieves to keep the doors of
his masters’s house open in the night so that
they might commit theft.A, according to
agreed plan,keep the doors open and the
thieves take away his master’s property.A
guilty or not?

13. • Abetment by conspiracy: abatement of
conspiracy consist when two or more person
engage in a conspiracy for doing a thing
which is illegal thing or act or illegal
omission.

14. • Thus in order to constituted abatement by
conspiracy following conditions must be
there:
• A conspiracy between two or more person.
• An act or illegal omission may take place of
that conspiracy.

15. Abetment by aid-
• Example-A incites B to kill C by uttering the
words maro maro..and D puts a knief in B’s
hand.A and D will liable or not?

16. • A person abets the doing of a thing who
intentionally aids, by any act or illegal
omission, the doing of that thing.
• Mere intention to facilitate, is not sufficient
to constitute abatement, unless the act
which it is intended to facilitate actually take
place.

17. • Mere giving of aid- A mere giving of help is
not amount of abatement, until the person
who provides the aid does not know that an
offence was being committed or constituted.
• Illustration-A wanted to kill B, he perused C to call B, C calls
B and B is murdered, here C provide the aid, but he did not
know that A wanted to kill B. So he would not be held liable
for abatement.

18. • Mere presence at the commission of an
office done not amount to intentional aid,
unless it was intended to have that effect.,
and the present aware that an offence is
about to be committed an office, or he
actively support or present hold some
position, authority, or rank in committing
the offence.

19. Object of the provision of abetment-
• A majority of crime commited by two or
more persons.in most such crimes,there
sometimes exist persons who by theselves
may not participate in the crime,but through
other means,as through instigation,or aid or
extending help or cooperation,enable the
others to commit the crime.

20. • The Indian penal code has accordingly made
provision for the punishment of persons
involved in such preparatory acts in order to
prevent crime from the being commited.

21. Cases-Eshan Meah,18 52774 ,12WR
• One man named Bedoo, was a supervisor of
some labourer.
• He had got into a quarrel.
• He shouted in the hit of the moment that he
wished he had a fatal weapon to teach a
labourer a lesson.
• One man named Eshan Meah was standing
nearby. Cont.

22. • That Eshan handed over Bedoo a
weapon,with which Bedoo severly injured
the coolie.
• Eshan will be guily or not?

23. Ram kumar v State of Himachal
pradesh.AIR 1995SC1965
• A constable drag a newly married 19 years old
girl and her husband.
• In the police station,the head constable took
the girl to a room,repeatedly beat her and
sexually abused her.
• Another constable kept watch outside holding
the helpless husband.
• The second constable will be held guilty or
not?

24. SIA RAM VS. STATE OF U.P
• In., the Supreme Court held that in order to
constitute abetment, the abettor must be
shown to have intentionally aided the
commission of the crime.

25. V. Shankaraiah vs State Of A.P. on 11
February, 2002
• The case of the prosecution is that Kalyani
(the deceased) felt humiliated and
committed suicide because her marriage with
A1 was cancelled after its settlement.
• so A-1 and his father A2 and paternal uncle
(A-3, the petitioner) are liable for
punishment under Section 306 IPC., for the
suicide of the deceased.

26. • The contention of the learned counsel for the
petitioner is that since there is nothing on
record to show that petitioner is responsible
for the death of Kalyani (the deceased) or
that petitioner had a role to play in the
settlement of marriage between A.1 and
Kalyani, the question of petitioner abetting
the suicide of Kalyani does not arise.

27. • 'Abetment' in Section 306 IPC has to be
understood with reference to its definition
given in Section 107 I.P.C. While considering
the scope of Section 107 IPC the Supreme
Court in C.B.I. K VS. V.C.SHUKLA1, observed,
in Para 50 at Page 1423 as follows:

28. • .a person abets the doing of a thing when
he does any of the acts mentioned in the
following three clauses.
• (i) instigates that person to do that thing.
• (ii) engages with one or more other person
or persons in any conspiracy for the doing
of that things.
• (iii) Intentionally aids, by any act or illegal
omission, the doing of that thing.

29. • So far as the first two clauses are concerned
it is not necessary that the offence instigated
should have been committed. For
understanding the word 'aid' in the third
clause it would be advantageous to see
Explanation 2 in Section 107 IPC, which reads
thus:

30. • "Whoever, either prior to or at the time of
the commission of the act, does anything in
order to facilitate the commission thereof, is
said to aid the doing of that act“. It is thus
clear that under the third clause when a
person abets by aiding, the act so aided
should have been committed in order to
make such aiding an offence....."

31. • Aiding suicide by a person can only be by
positive acts of assisting in procuring the
material required for suicide, like a person
supplying rope or other material for hanging,
when a person expresses his desires to
commit suicide by hanging, or supplying
weapon or material like drugs, poison, etc..
CONT.

32. when the person intending to commit suicide
asks such aid, or if a person suggest the
modes in which suicide can be committed
like jumping into a river, lake or well, etc., to
a person who intends to commit suicide.

33. V. Shankaraiah vs State Of A.P. on
11 February, 2002
• The case of the prosecution is that Kalyani
(the deceased) felt humiliated and
committed suicide because her marriage with
A1 was cancelled after its settlement.
• A-1 and his father A2 and paternal uncle (A-3,
the petitioner) are liable for punishment
under Section 306 IPC., for the suicide of the
deceased.

34. • The contention of the learned counsel for the
petitioner is that since there is nothing on
record to show that petitioner is responsible
for the death of Kalyani (the deceased) or
that petitioner had a role to play in the
settlement of marriage between A.1 and
Kalyani, the question of petitioner abetting
the suicide of Kalyani does not arise.

35. • 'Abetment' in Section 306 IPC has to be
understood with reference to its definition
given in Section 107 I.P.C. While considering
the scope of Section 107 IPC the Supreme
Court in C.B.I. K VS. V.C.SHUKLA1, observed,
in Para 50 at Page 1423 as follows:

36. • "...a person abets the doing of a thing when
he does any of the acts mentioned in the
following three clauses.
• (i) instigates that person to do that thing.
• (ii) engages with one or more other person
or persons in any conspiracy for the doing
of that things.
• (iii) Intentionally aids, by any act or illegal
omission, the doing of that thing.

37. • So far as the first two clauses are concerned
it is not necessary that the offence instigated
should have been committed. For
understanding the word 'aid' in the third
clause it would be advantageous to see
Explanation 2 in Section 107 IPC, which reads
thus:

38. • "Whoever, either prior to or at the time of
the commission of the act, does anything in
order to facilitate the commission thereof, is
said to aid the doing of that act"
• It is thus clear that under the third clause
when a person abets by aiding, the act so
aided should have been committed in order
to make such aiding an offence....."

39. Thanu Ram vs State Of M.P. on 5
October, 2010
• The Petitioner herein, Thanu Ram, was
married to Hirabai (deceased) in 1984. On
24th March, 1988, Hirabai committed suicide
in her matrimonial home by sprinkling
kerosene upon herself and setting herself on
fire.

40. • She died in the hospital on 25th March, 1988,
having suffered 90-95% burn injuries. Prior to her
death, she made a dying declaration to the Naib
Tahsildar, J.R. Lahre, who was examined by the
prosecution as P.W.9. Dr. K. Vinay Kumar, in whose
presence the declaration was made, was examined
by the prosecution as P.W.11 to testify that Hirabai
was in a fit mental condition to make the dying
declaration before P.W.9.

41. • Dr. Rajesh Pandey, learned Advocate for the
Petitioner, raised two basic issues in the course of
his submissions, namely, (i) whether the offences
complained of under Sections 306 and 498-A IPC
were at all sustainable, and (ii) whether the dying
declaration, said to have been made by Hirabai on
which the decision of the Courts below was
based, could have been relied upon without
proper corroboration.

42. • Dr. Pandey urged that the Trial Court as well as the High
Court had failed to notice the main ingredient of an offence
under Section 306 IPC, namely, the question of abetment in
the commission of such suicide which has been spelt out in
Section 107 IPC. Learned counsel pointed out that in order to
abet the doing of a thing, the abettor must be found to have
instigated any person to do such thing or engage with one or
more person or persons in any conspiracy for the doing of
that thing

43. SECTIONS RELATING TO ABETMENT
UNDER IPC
• sec108-Abetor-
• Sec 109,115,116 state the quantum of
penalty to be accorded in different cases of
abetment.
• Sec 118-120 prove for penalty in cases of of
abetment by concealment.