A instigates B to burn Z’s house. B sets fire to the house and at the same time commits theft of property there. Is A guilty of abetting the theft?

Question: A instigates B to burn Z’s house. B sets fire to the house and at the same time commits theft of property there. Is A guilty of abetting the theft? [WBJS 1996]

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites. [A instigates B to burn Z’s house. B sets fire to the house and at the same time commits theft of property there. Is A guilty of abetting the theft?]

Answer

Section 111- Liability of abettor when one act abetted and different act done.— When an act is abetted, and a different act is done, the abettor is liable for the act done, in the same manner, and to the same extent as if he had directly abetted it:

Proviso to section 111 says: Provided the act done was a probable consequence of the abetment, and was committed under the influence of the instigation, or with the aid or in pursuance of the conspiracy which constituted the abetment.

Thus, the principle of the probable consequence of an act can be described as an act that is likely or which can reasonably be expected to follow from such an act. An unusual or unexpected consequence cannot be described as a probable one, since it is a well-established rule in criminal law that provisions have to be strictly construed.

In the present case, A instigates B to burn Z’s house. B sets fire to the house and at the same time commits theft of property there. A, though guilty of abetting the burning of the house, is not guilty of abetting the theft; for the theft was a distinct act and not a probable consequence of the burning.

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