Define attempt. How attempts to commit offences are made punishable under the Indian Penal Code in cases where no express provision is made for the punishment for such an attempt?

Question: Define attempt. How attempts to commit offences are made punishable under the Indian Penal Code in cases where no express provision is made for the punishment for such an attempt? [HR.J.S. 2009]

Find the question and answer of IPC only on Legal Bites. [Define attempt. How attempts to commit offences are made punishable under the Indian Penal Code in cases where no express provision is made for the punishment for such an attempt?]

Answer

An attempt is defined as a punishable act is when the preparation ceases and the attempt begins to achieve that intended result. Such an act is not required to be “a penultimate act” but any act which is “towards the commission of the crime” coupled with an intention to do accomplish it. This is the summarization of the scope of the law of attempt embodied in section 511 by the apex court in the case of Abhayanand Mishra v. State of Bihar [AIR 1961 SC 1698].

The following are the essentials of an attempt to commit a crime-

1. there must be “an intention to commit a crime”
2. Act so done must be “in furtherance of that intention” or “towards the accomplishment of that crime”
3. The act must be “an incomplete work” or “fall short of a completed crime”

Hence when the above essentials are fulfilled it is proved that the act done was an attempt to commit a specific crime or crime and is held to be punishable. This particular category is important as this shows the intention of the lawmakers to punish the attempt of any kind of offence.

As the Supreme Court has clarified in the case of Satvir Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR 2001 SC 2828, the section is applicable only when the person committing this offence is having an intention to commit an offence (main offence), has made necessary preparation for the same and finally when there is an overt act in furtherance of such intention or a continuation of acts towards the completion of the intended offence.

In the case of Koppula Venkat Rao v. State of Andhra Pradesh, Appeal (crl.) 84 of 1998, the apex court held -

An attempt to commit an offence is an act, or a series of acts, which leads inevitably to the commission of the offence, unless something, which the doer of the act neither foresaw nor intended, happens to prevent this. An attempt may be described to be an act done in part execution of a criminal design, amounting to more than more preparation, but falling short of actual consummation, and, possessing, except for failure to consummate, all the elements of the substantive crime.

Thus, section 511 reveals that there are three essentials of the offence of attempt to commit an offence that is required to be proved by the prosecution to secure the conviction of a perpetrator. They are:

First, he had an intention or mens rea to commit the contemplated or intended offence.

Secondly, he has done some act or taken a step forward (i.e. an act or a step which was more than merely preparatory to the commission of the intended offence) towards the commission of the contemplated offence.

Thirdly, he, for reasons beyond his comprehension or control, failed to commit the intended offence. An attempt to commit an offence, thus, can be said to begin when the preparations are complete and the doer commences to do something with the intention of committing the desired offence and which is a step towards the commission of the offence.

The moment he, after making necessary preparations, commences to do an act with the necessary intention, he commences his attempt to commit the offence. Such an act need not be the penultimate act towards the commission of the offence. A step or direct movement towards the commission of the contemplated offence is sufficient.

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