Criminal Law | LLB Entrance Notes

Theft, Extortion, Robbery, Cheating, Criminal Misappropriation and Breach of Trust

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860 for offences committed on or after 1 July 2024. These notes explain the current BNS provisions while retaining corresponding IPC section numbers as useful historical and examination cross-references.

Section 303 BNS - Theft

Theft is committed when a person, intending dishonestly to take movable property out of the possession of another person without that person's consent, moves that property in order to such taking.

Essential Elements of Theft

• Dishonest intention to take the property;
• the subject must be movable property;
• the property must be taken out of another person's possession;
• the taking must be without consent; and
• there must be movement of the property in order to the taking.

Example

If A intentionally takes B's mobile phone from B's bag without consent intending to keep or sell it, the essential elements of theft are ordinarily present.

New BNS Point - Snatching

Section 304 separately defines snatching. Theft becomes snatching when, in order to commit theft, the offender suddenly, forcibly or quickly seizes, secures, grabs or takes away movable property from a person or from that person's possession.

Section 308 BNS - Extortion

Extortion involves intentionally putting a person in fear of injury to that person or another, and thereby dishonestly inducing the person so put in fear to deliver property, valuable security, or anything signed or sealed which may be converted into a valuable security.

Essential Elements

• intentional creation of fear of injury;
• dishonest inducement caused by that fear; and
• delivery of property, valuable security or the specified document/thing.

Section 309 BNS - Robbery and Dacoity

Robbery is an aggravated form of either theft or extortion. The BNS continues the traditional distinction between robbery arising from theft and robbery arising from extortion.

When Theft Becomes Robbery

Theft becomes robbery when, for committing the theft, carrying away the property, or attempting to carry it away, the offender voluntarily causes or attempts to cause death, hurt, wrongful restraint, or fear of instant death, instant hurt or instant wrongful restraint.

When Extortion Becomes Robbery

Extortion becomes robbery when the offender is in the victim's presence and puts the victim in fear of instant death, instant hurt or instant wrongful restraint to that person or another, and by so putting the victim in fear induces immediate delivery of the property or thing extorted.

Dacoity

When five or more persons conjointly commit or attempt to commit robbery, or are present and aid such commission or attempt, the offence is dacoity.

Section 314 BNS - Dishonest Misappropriation of Property

A person commits dishonest misappropriation when movable property comes into that person's possession innocently or otherwise, but the person subsequently dishonestly misappropriates or converts it to personal use.

Example

A accidentally takes B's phone from a library believing it to be A's own phone. At that moment, A lacks dishonest intention and therefore does not commit theft. If A later discovers the mistake and dishonestly decides to keep or sell B's phone, the later conduct may amount to dishonest misappropriation.

Section 316 BNS - Criminal Breach of Trust

Criminal breach of trust requires entrustment of property or dominion over property, followed by dishonest misappropriation, conversion, use or disposal in violation of law or of a legal contract concerning that trust.

Example

A entrusts B with a valuable item for safe custody. If B dishonestly sells the item or converts it to B's own use contrary to the entrustment, the ingredients of criminal breach of trust may be present.

Section 318 BNS - Cheating

Cheating involves deception coupled with fraudulent or dishonest inducement to deliver property or permit property to be retained, or intentional inducement to do or omit something which the deceived person would not otherwise do or omit and which causes or is likely to cause legally relevant damage or harm.

Core Ingredients

• deception of a person;
• fraudulent or dishonest inducement to deliver or retain property, or intentional inducement to act or omit to act;
• the required dishonest/fraudulent intention; and
• the consequence or likely consequence specified by the section.

Dishonest concealment of facts is expressly treated as deception for the purposes of Section 318.

Dishonest Intention at the Beginning

A crucial distinction between cheating and a mere civil breach of contract is whether dishonest or fraudulent intention existed at the time the representation or promise was made.

Example of Cheating

A obtains money from B by falsely representing at the outset that A owns property which A knows belongs to someone else and can be sold to B. If B parts with money because of the deception, the facts may satisfy the ingredients of cheating.

Section 319 BNS - Cheating by Personation

Cheating by personation occurs when a person cheats by pretending to be some other person, knowingly substitutes one person for another, or represents that the offender or another is a person other than the person actually represented.

IPC to BNS Cross-Reference

These notes are intended for legal education and entrance-examination revision. For exact statutory language, punishments, exceptions and illustrations, consult the current official text of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.