common intention

Section 3(5) BNS (old s.34 IPC) states a rule of joint liability; it creates no separate offence. Three things are needed: a criminal act done by several persons, a common intention shared by all of them, and participation in the act in furtherance of that intention. The intention implies a pre-arranged plan, though it may form on the spot just before the act.

Distinguish common object (s.190 BNS): that needs five or more persons, creates a distinct offence, and does not need a prior meeting of minds. Also distinguish the same or similar intention, which several people may have independently without sharing it.

Example

Since A held the victim while B stabbed him, both acting on a plan made minutes earlier, A is liable for murder read with section 3(5) BNS on the basis of common intention.

In Indian law

• Section 3(5), Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (old s.34 IPC)
• Mahbub Shah v. Emperor (Privy Council, 1945): common intention requires a prior concert or pre-arranged plan

See also

common object · criminal conspiracy · abetment

Read more in the study notes

• Judicial control: public and private law remedies, writ procedure and ouster clauses (Administrative Law)
• Methods of dispute resolution: adversarial, inquisitorial and ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Need for ADR, international commitments and suitability of disputes (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Arbitration: meaning, kinds and salient features of the 1996 Act (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Arbitration agreement and its drafting (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Arbitrators: qualities, appointment, challenge and substitution (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)