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Section 299 IPC: Culpable Homicide - Definition, Ingredients and Explanations

Section 299 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 defined culpable homicide. The provision covered causing death with one of three specified mental states: intention to cause death, intention to cause bodily injury likely to cause death, or knowledge that the act is likely to cause death.

Legal position covered: This article explains Section 299 IPC under the legal framework applicable immediately before the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024. It is intended as a reference to the former IPC framework and matters for which that law remains relevant.
Contents

What Is Culpable Homicide Under Section 299 IPC?

Section 299 - Culpable homicide. Whoever causes death by doing an act with the intention of causing death, or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death, commits the offence of culpable homicide.

Section 299 was a definition provision. It identified the circumstances in which causing the death of a person amounted to culpable homicide. The definition required both the causing of death and one of the mental elements expressly stated in the section.

Essential Ingredients of Section 299 IPC

The statutory definition may be understood through two basic requirements: causing death by an act and the presence of at least one of the three specified forms of intention or knowledge.

Intention to cause deathThe act is done with the intention of causing death.
Intention as to bodily injuryThe act is done with the intention of causing bodily injury of a kind likely to cause death.
Knowledge of likelihood of deathThe person knows that death is likely to result from the act.

Causation

The accused's act must cause the death. The three explanations appended to Section 299 clarify important rules of causation, including cases involving a pre-existing disorder or infirmity, the availability of proper medical treatment, and the death of a living child during birth.

Intention and knowledge

The section used both intention and knowledge. These expressions identify different mental states within the statutory definition. The applicable mental state is determined from the proved facts and circumstances of the particular case.

Illustrations Given in Section 299 IPC

Illustration (a): concealed pit. A lays sticks and turf over a pit intending to cause death, or knowing that death is likely to result. Z believes the ground to be firm, steps on it, falls into the pit and is killed. A has committed culpable homicide.
Illustration (b): firing at a person behind a bush. A knows that Z is behind a bush while B does not. A, intending to cause Z's death or knowing it to be likely, induces B to fire at the bush. B fires and kills Z. B may be guilty of no offence, but A has committed culpable homicide.
Illustration (c): unintended killing while shooting at a fowl. A shoots at a fowl intending to kill and steal it and kills B, who is behind a bush, without knowing B is there. Although A was doing an unlawful act, the illustration states that A is not guilty of culpable homicide because the required intention or knowledge concerning death was absent.

These statutory illustrations demonstrate why the required mental element is important. An unlawful act that happens to cause death does not automatically satisfy Section 299 unless the intention or knowledge required by the definition is established.

Explanations to Section 299 IPC

Explanation 1 - Accelerating death

A person who causes bodily injury to another person who is suffering from a disorder, disease or bodily infirmity, and thereby accelerates that person's death, is deemed to have caused the death.

Explanation 2 - Proper treatment could have prevented death

Where death is caused by bodily injury, the person who caused that injury is deemed to have caused the death even though proper remedies and skilful treatment might have prevented it.

Explanation 3 - Death of a child during birth

Causing the death of a child in the mother's womb is not homicide. However, causing the death of a living child may amount to culpable homicide if any part of that child has been brought forth, even though the child may not have breathed or been completely born.

Relationship Between Sections 299, 300, 304 and 304A IPC

ProvisionSubject under the pre-BNS IPC
Section 299Defined culpable homicide through the specified forms of intention or knowledge.
Section 300Specified when culpable homicide is murder, subject to the exceptions contained in that section.
Section 302Prescribed punishment for murder.
Section 304Prescribed punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, with punishment depending on the applicable intention or knowledge.
Section 304ADealt with causing death by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide.

Section 299 is a definition, not the punishment provision

A common source of confusion is treating Section 299 itself as the punishment section. Section 299 defines culpable homicide. The legal consequence and punishment depend on whether the facts fall within murder under Section 300 and its punishment provision, or culpable homicide not amounting to murder punishable under Section 304.

Culpable homicide and negligence are legally distinct

Section 304A applied where death was caused by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide. Section 299, by contrast, expressly required one of its specified forms of intention or knowledge.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was culpable homicide under Section 299 IPC?

It was causing death by an act done with intention to cause death, intention to cause bodily injury likely to cause death, or knowledge that the act was likely to cause death.

Did Section 299 IPC provide the punishment for culpable homicide?

No. Section 299 defined culpable homicide. The punishment depended on the further legal classification of the homicide under the IPC, including Sections 300, 302 and 304.

What were the three mental elements in Section 299?

They were: intention to cause death; intention to cause bodily injury likely to cause death; and knowledge that the act was likely to cause death.

Could culpable homicide arise where the deceased already had a disease?

Yes. Explanation 1 stated that a person who caused bodily injury and thereby accelerated the death of a person suffering from a disorder, disease or bodily infirmity was deemed to have caused that person's death.

Did the possibility of successful medical treatment break causation?

Not merely for that reason. Explanation 2 stated that the person causing the bodily injury was deemed to have caused the death even where proper remedies and skilful treatment might have prevented it.

Is this article limited to the law before BNS 2023 came into force?

Yes. The article describes the IPC framework applicable immediately before commencement of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 on 1 July 2024.

Note: This page is a general legal reference to the pre-BNS statutory framework. The legal classification of a homicide depends on the proved facts, applicable exceptions, date of the occurrence and law governing the case.