attempt

Criminal acts pass through four stages: intention, preparation, attempt and completion. Intention and preparation are generally not punished (with exceptions such as preparation for dacoity or waging war). An attempt is punishable: a person who attempts an offence and does any act towards its commission is liable under the general section, unless the Code provides specially for the attempt.

The hard question is where preparation ends and attempt begins. Indian courts use tests such as proximity and the point of no return, asking whether the accused has started on the actual commission. An attempt may be punishable even if completion was impossible (the pickpocket who finds the pocket empty). Specific attempts include attempt to murder and attempt to commit culpable homicide.

Example

Putting his hand into the empty pocket was an attempt to commit theft under s.62 BNS, even though there was nothing to steal.

In Indian law

• Section 62, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (old s.511 IPC): attempt to commit offences
• Section 109, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (old s.307 IPC): attempt to murder

See also

abetment · actus reus · mens rea · murder

Read more in the study notes

• Public corporations and public undertakings: status, classification, liability and control (Administrative Law)
• Conciliation: meaning, kinds and the role of the conciliator (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Conciliation under industrial, family and marriage laws (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Mediation: meaning, the mediator and essential characteristics (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• The Mediation Act, 2023: scheme, enforcement and status (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Framing of charge and joinder of charges (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)