Voluntarily Causing Hurt to Extort Confession or to Compel the Restoration of the Property - Section 330

Punishment Under Section 330: Section 330 states that the commitment of an offense under this section leads to imprisonment which may extend up to 7 years and shall also be liable to a fine.

Nature of Offence: Section 330 is Bailable and cognizable in nature. Under the cognizable offenses, the police can arrest the accused without the arrest warrant. But as this offense is bailable in nature the bail can be granted by the police and the court on the bail bonds. The offense is triable by the magistrate of the first class. This offense is Non - Compoundable in nature, which implies that this offense cannot be sorted by the compromise between the parties.

Ingredients of Section 330 

1. The hurt caused by the accused shall be voluntary in nature.

2. Hurt caused shall be - 

•  For extorting the confession from the sufferer.

• For extorting a confession from a person interested in him to detect an offense or misconduct.

3. Purpose of constraining such people to restore any property or valuable security. 

4. To satisfy a claim or demand.

5. To give the information leading to the restoration of the property.

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Some Landmark Judgements 

Shakila Abdul Gafar Khan V Dhoble AIR 2003 SC 4567: In this case, the apex court stated that the offenses under Section 330 and 327 are very high in nature, But the convictions are very low compared to the offenses committed in reality. One of the reasons behind this is that most of the cases go unreported as the offense is being committed in the police precincts.

In respect of the concerns raised by the apex court, the Law Commission in its 113th Report recommended the changes to the Indian Evidence Act. One of the changes made was that if the person is injured in the custody or dies in the custody then in that case the police will be subjected to the prosecution. The burden of proof will lie on the police to discharge this.

The torture and the mistreatment of the accused by the police violate the Fundamental Rights of the citizen. The legislative and the judiciary shall play a role to curb this issue and take the proper step by making strict laws and ensuring that these laws are being implemented.

Queen Emperor v. N.C.Mookerjee (1873) 20 WR 41 (44) (Cr): The principal object of the section is to prevent torture by the police of the accused while in the custody of the police or otherwise. A police officer is under a legal duty to make sure that the accused are not tortured who are in his custody and failure to discharge that duty makes him a party to the crime.

How can you file/defend your case for the IPC Section 330 offense?

1. Since the offense is cognizable in nature, therefore, the victim can file the case at the local police station and file the FIR.

2. The police can arrest without a warrant.

3. Since this is a bailable offense the bail can be granted by the police and also by the court on the bonds.

4. Anticipatory bail can be also filed in the case. As in the case of the bailable offense, it is the right of the accused to be granted bail. Anticipatory bail is filed under the section 438 of CrPC whereas the bail is filed for the apprehension of the arrest. 

5. After the investigation, the charge sheet has to be filed before the magistrate of the first class. 

6. After this, the trial will take place. 

 Through Lawtendo you can connect to an appropriate lawyer for filing or defending your case for the offense under Section 330  of IPC. We, at Lawtendo, provide around 15000+ lawyers all over the country on our online platform. Lawtendo strives to facilitate legal services that are consumer-oriented,i.e, cost-effective and quality legal service.