Making Preparation to Commit Dacoity - Section 399
Preparation of offences is not considered to be punishable but there are certain offences that are mentioned in the Indian Penal Code whose preparation is also punishable, one of such offences is dacoity. Dacoity is described in section 391 of the Indian Penal Code. In this blog, we will discuss what is dacoity? What are the ingredients to consider an offence as dacoity? What is the punishment for dacoity and what is the punishment for preparation of dacoity? What is dacoity? Section 391 of the Indian Penal Code talks about dacoity, it states that when five or more five persons with common intention and conjointly rob someone or commit robbery or attempt to commit robbery is called dacoity. When such group commits robbery all the persons involved in the robbery shall be held liable whether they all were involved in the same act or someone of them aided them in the commission of robbery if they had a common intention and common objective and conjointly committed the crime, then they all shall be held liable and punished for it. Difference between robbery and dacoity Dacoity is considered as a robbery but robbery cannot be considered as dacoity, it is not vice-versa. The main ingredient for dacoity is that there have to be five or more than five persons but in robbery, the number of people involved should be less than five. Robbery includes either of the two offences that is when theft is robbery or when extortion is robbery. In all the robberies these two offences are included but this is not the case with dacoity. Robbery is defined in section 390 of the Indian Penal Code and dacoity is defined under section 391 of the Indian Penal Code. Punishment for dacoity: Dacoity is a cognizable and non-bailable offence that shall be tried in a court of session. Section 395 of the Indian Penal Code talks about the punishment for dacoity; it states that when the accused are charged under section 391, they shall be punished with either rigorous imprisonment or imprisonment which could be up to 10 years and they can also be liable for fine. Consult the best lawyer online Liability of persons involved in the dacoity: Accused are punished for the crimes they have committed but there are some offences that makes the person liable for the offence they did not commit but they had a common intention and conjointly participated in the commission of the crimes, dacoity is one of such offences. The key ingredients of dacoity are: Involvement of five or more than five persons. They had common intentions and conjointly committed the crime. Section 396 talks about dacoity when murder is also committed, if one of the accused murdered someone while committing dacoity then all the accused involved in the dacoity shall be a charge for dacoity with murder. Dacoity needs five or more people, and the act involved aiding and support it is not necessary that every single person has to commit the same act during dacoity since they are conjointly participating with common intention and common objective, they all will be held liable for the actions of all the person which means if one of them committed murder or hurt someone they all will be charged for that. The key feature is not only to consider the offence as dacoity but also for the punishment, it is unfair to punish some of the accused and release others also for the punishment there have to be five or more than five persons.
Preparation for dacoity is punishable or not?
There are certain offences under the Indian Penal Code whose preparation is also punishable. Dacoity is also one of such offences, section 399 of the Indian Penal Code talks about the punishment for the preparation of dacoity. This section states that if a person is planning and arranging the things required to commit dacoity that person shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine. It also states that it is not necessary that if a person is found guilty of dacoity should also be guilty of preparation, a person might be guilty of dacoity but may not be guilty of the preparation for dacoity.
Case laws:
Suleman v. State of Delhi: In this case, one of the issues was to sustain the conviction of the constable. The Supreme Court held that the conviction of the constable should not be sustained as the evidence and the facts stated by the constable shows that the constable did not reveal the truth about the preparation of the dacoity. The constable stated that when he went to inspect the Dharamshala where the five accused were preparing for dacoity, there was only one room with only one door and no windows and it was dark due to which he was not able to see anything, but he heard that the accused were planning to rob the petrol pump that night. But he had reported to S.I. that two of them had guns and three of them had knives and the evidence shows that the weapons were hidden with the accused and the room was completely dark so how is it possible that the constable saw that accused had weapons, this creates doubt that the constable is not telling the truth.
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Om Prakash & Ors. V. State of U.P.: In this case, the accused had committed dacoity with murder, it was proved that the accused had issues and enmity which was why they had committed dacoity by robbing their ornaments, clothes, and cash and also killed one of the family members and injured the wife and brother of the deceased person. The accused were identified by the wife and the brother. The accused were held liable.
Conclusion: Hence it is concluded that for the commission of dacoity there have to be five persons or more than five persons involved in the act who should be having common intention and conjointly participated in the commission of the crimes or aided in the commission of the crime and they all will be liable for dacoity and if any one of them or more had committed any other activities while committing dacoity like murder or hurt then all of them will be charged for that and even if they are preparing for dacoity they will be held liable and shall be punished for that but if the offence is committed by less than five-person then it may consider as robbery. As every dacoity is robbery but not all the robbery is dacoity.
This article was drafted by Ms. Charu Shrivastava, B.A.LLB(H), Galgotias University, Greater Noida. U.P.| Offence | Punishment | Cognizance | Bail | Triable By |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Making Preparation to Commit Dacoity | Imprisonment, up to 10 years or fine or both | Cognizable | Non-Bailable | Court of session |
| Offence | Making Preparation to Commit Dacoity |
|---|---|
| Punishment | Imprisonment, up to 10 years or fine or both |
| Cognizance | Cognizable |
| Bail | Non-Bailable |
| Triable By | Court of session |
