Discuss the essentials of wrongful confinement and distinguish it with wrongful restraint.

Question: Discuss the essentials of wrongful confinement and distinguish it from wrongful restraint. [RJS, 1976, UPCJ, 1983, 1984, 2012]

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Answer

Section 339 defines “Wrongful Restraint” and the punishment for the same is given under Section 341.

Section 339 defines Wrongful restraint as,

Whoever voluntarily obstructs any person so as to prevent that person from proceeding in any direction in which that person has a right to proceed, is said wrongfully to restrain that person.

Essentials ingredients of the offense of Wrongful restraint are:

1. there must be a voluntary obstruction and
2. such obstruction must be to prevent a person from proceeding in any direction which that person has a right to proceed.
3. the restraint caused, even though in only a particular direction, must not be a partial one

The term “Wrongful Confinement” is defined in Section 340, and its punishment is provided in Section 342. It says if any person is prevented from proceeding to any place beyond the limit as prescribed by them, which is offensive when they are illegally forcing the victim to do so.

Section 340 defines Wrongful confinement as,

Whoever wrongfully restrains any person in such a manner as to prevent that person from proceedings beyond certain circumscribing limits, is said “wrongfully to confine” that person.

The essential ingredients of the offense of ‘wrongful confinement’ are:

1. wrongful restraint of a person, and
2. the restraint must be to prevent that person from proceeding beyond certain circumscribing limits beyond which (s)he has the right to proceed.
3. There must be total restraint and not partial ones

As both, the sections seem to be synonymous but are having a slight difference. In the “wrongful restraint” the victim is obstructed from proceeding in any specific direction or a particular area. So it focuses on restrain in moving in a specific direction, although he may be free to go elsewhere.

But confinement relates to being confined in a particular place and is not allowed to go out of that place. Hence, “wrongful restraint” is much milder than “wrongful confinement”.

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