theft

Section 303 of the BNS (old s.378 IPC) defines theft. Its ingredients are: (1) dishonest intention to take, (2) movable property, (3) out of the possession of another person, (4) without that person's consent, and (5) moving the property in order to take it. Ownership is not the test; even the owner can commit theft by taking his property from someone in lawful possession, such as a pledgee.

The intention need not be to keep the property permanently: temporary removal with dishonest intention is enough, as in Pyare Lal Bhargava. If the property was lawfully obtained and then misused, the offence is criminal misappropriation or criminal breach of trust, not theft. Under the BNS, a first-time theft of property worth less than five thousand rupees, where the property is returned, can be punished with community service.

Example

The clerk who removed a file from the office for a day to show it to an outsider committed theft, since temporary removal with dishonest intent is enough.

In Indian law

• Section 303, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (old ss.378–379, Indian Penal Code, 1860)
• Pyare Lal Bhargava v. State of Rajasthan, 1962 INSC 296: temporary removal with dishonest intention is theft

See also

extortion · robbery · criminal misappropriation · movable property

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