Mens Reus and Actus Reus for CLAT - Practice Questions & MCQ

Read the passage very carefully and answer the following questions.

In-State v. Sheo Prasad court held that a master was not liable for his servant's act in carrying oilseeds in contravention of the order made under the Essential, Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act, 1946, on the ground that he had not the guilty mind. It is a well-settled principle of common law that mens rea is an essential ingredient of a criminal offence. Doubtless, a statute can exclude that element, but it is a sound rule of construction adopted in England and also accepted in India to construe a statutory provision creating an offence in conformity with the common law rather than against it unless the statute expressly or by necessary implication excluded mens rea. It is also necessary to enquire whether a statute by putting a person under strict liability helps him to assist the State in the enforcement of the law: can he do anything to promote the observance of the law? A person who does not know that gold cannot be brought into India without a licence or is not bringing into India any gold at all cannot possibly do anything to promote the observance of the law. Mens rea by necessary implication can be excluded from a statute only where it is absolutely clear that the implementation of the object of a statute would otherwise be defeated and its exclusion enables those put under strict liability by their act or omission to assist the promotion of the law."It is not enough merely to label the statute as one dealing with a grave social evil and from that to infer that strict liability was intended. It is pertinent also to inquire whether putting the defendant under strict liability will assist in the enforcement of the regulations. That means that there must be something he can do, directly or indirectly, by supervision or inspection, by improvement of his business methods, or by exhorting those whom he may be expected to influence or control, which will promote the observance of the regulations. Unless this is so, there is no reason in penalising him, and it cannot be inferred that the legislature imposed strict liability merely to find a luckless victim.

Question: Annie is the landlord of a house next to a factory, the machinery of which has, by its vibrations by machinery, weakened and caused cracks to appear in the ceiling of Annies' room. While Annie is showing Brat, a future purchaser, over the house, the ceiling falls and caused injury to both Annie and Brat. Has Annie any remedy against the owner of the factory?

Passage: 8

Read the following passage and answer the question.

In criminal law, two essential elements namely, (a) the physical elements which are also known as actus reus, and (b) the mental element, commonly known as mens rea, are necessary to constitute a crime. Sir Mathew Hale in his book “History of Pleas of the Crown” stated, “where there is no will to commit an offence, there can be no just reason to incur the penalty”.

Mens Rea is known as an evil mind/will. In our routine day-to-day life, we are probably daily thinking of some evil act, most probable. Sometimes we think “I will hit him once”, “I have to kill him, this is my enemy I will kill him”, or “This is anti-social we must punish him”. We know that punishment is part of the Judiciary even though sometimes we are following our dreamy Judiciary, we are pronouncing one-sided judgments about anyone, and therefore we are giving them dreamy punishment.

Preparation is a very important factor of the Mens Rea. 'Preparation' means 'to arrange means or necessary measures for the commission of the crime'. Basically, the offence starts from here for which we get the punishment. While preparation for committing an offence is not generally deemed to be an offence but special variety of acts are defined to be offences although they may constitute preparation to commit those offences

'Attempt' is the third stage in the commission of a crime. It is also known as a 'Preliminary Crime'. The term 'Attempt' means “the direct movement towards the commission of a crime after necessary preparation has been made.” The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of Maharashtra V/s Mohd. Yakub [(1980) 3SCC 57, 1980 SCC (cri.)513] has observed that an attempt to define the term 'attempt' is a futile exercise. The attempt stage is reached when the culprit takes deliberate overt steps to commit the offence, which need not be a penultimate act.

The fourth essential of crime is the 'Injury' to another person or society at large. Such injury must be illegally caused to a person. The word 'Injury' has been defined under Section 44 of the Indian Penal Code as "the word 'injury' denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person in body, mind, reputation or property".

Source: Dr. Samir A. Runja, STAGES OF CRIME UNDER THE INDIAN PENAL CODE 1860.

Question:

X and Y enter into a fight and after that, Y shouts that he will kill X. Decide.

Passage: 8

Read the following passage and answer the question.

In criminal law, two essential elements namely, (a) the physical elements which are also known as actus reus, and (b) the mental element, commonly known as mens rea, are necessary to constitute a crime. Sir Mathew Hale in his book “History of Pleas of the Crown” stated, “where there is no will to commit an offence, there can be no just reason to incur the penalty”.

Mens Rea is known as an evil mind/will. In our routine day-to-day life, we are probably daily thinking of some evil act, most probable. Sometimes we think “I will hit him once”, “I have to kill him, this is my enemy I will kill him”, or “This is anti-social we must punish him”. We know that punishment is part of the Judiciary even though sometimes we are following our dreamy Judiciary, we are pronouncing one-sided judgments about anyone, and therefore we are giving them dreamy punishment.

Preparation is a very important factor of the Mens Rea. 'Preparation' means 'to arrange means or necessary measures for the commission of the crime'. Basically, the offence starts from here for which we get the punishment. While preparation for committing an offence is not generally deemed to be an offence but special variety of acts are defined to be offences although they may constitute preparation to commit those offences

'Attempt' is the third stage in the commission of a crime. It is also known as a 'Preliminary Crime'. The term 'Attempt' means “the direct movement towards the commission of a crime after necessary preparation has been made.” The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of Maharashtra V/s Mohd. Yakub [(1980) 3SCC 57, 1980 SCC (cri.)513] has observed that an attempt to define the term 'attempt' is a futile exercise. The attempt stage is reached when the culprit takes deliberate overt steps to commit the offence, which need not be a penultimate act.

The fourth essential of crime is the 'Injury' to another person or society at large. Such injury must be illegally caused to a person. The word 'Injury' has been defined under Section 44 of the Indian Penal Code as "the word 'injury' denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person in body, mind, reputation or property".

Source: Dr. Samir A. Runja, STAGES OF CRIME UNDER THE INDIAN PENAL CODE 1860.

Question:

Fatima with her infant child jumped into a well to hide from her cruel husband. Once Fatima ran the husband never chased her. The infant died but Fatima survived. Who is liable for the death of a child?

Passage 2

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

In criminal law, two essential elements namely, (a) the physical elements which is also known as actus reus, and (b) the mental element, commonly known as mens rea, are necessary to constitute a crime. Sir Mathew Hale in his book “History of Pleas of the Crown '' who stated “where there is no will to commit an offence, there can be no just reason to incur the penalty.

Mens Rea, is basically known as evil mind/will. In our routine day-to-day life, we are probably daily thinking of some evil act, most probable. Sometimes we think “I will hit him once”, “I have to kill him, this is my enemy I will kill him”, “this is anti social we must punish him”. We know the punishment is part of the Judiciary even though sometimes we are following our dreamy Judiciary, we are pronouncing one-sided judgement about any one, and therefore we are giving them dreamy punishment.

Preparation is a very important factor of the Mens Rea. 'Preparation' means 'to arrange means or necessary measures for the commission of the crime'. Basically, offense starts from here for which we get the punishment. While preparation for committing an offense is not generally deemed to be an offence but special variety of acts are defined to be offences although they may constitute preparation to commit those offences

The 'Attempt' is the third stage in the commission of the crime. It is also known as a 'Preliminary Crime'. The term 'Attempt' means “the direct movement towards the commission of crime after necessary preparation has been made.” The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of Maharashtra V/s Mohd.Yakub [(1980) 3SCC 57, 1980 SCC (cri.)513] has observed that an attempt to define the term 'attempt' is a futile exercise. The attempt stage is reached when the culprit takes deliberate overt steps to commit the offence, which need not be a penultimate act.

The fourth essential of crime is the 'Injury' to another person or to society at large. Such injury must be illegally caused to a person. The word 'Injury' has been defined under Section 44 of the Indian Penal Code as "the word 'injury' denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person in body, mind, reputation or property".

Question:

A, plans to murder B, and starts looking for a gun and subsequently buys one. Decide.

Passage 2

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

In criminal law, two essential elements namely, (a) the physical elements which is also known as actus reus, and (b) the mental element, commonly known as mens rea, are necessary to constitute a crime. Sir Mathew Hale in his book “History of Pleas of the Crown '' who stated “where there is no will to commit an offence, there can be no just reason to incur the penalty.

Mens Rea, is basically known as evil mind/will. In our routine day-to-day life, we are probably daily thinking of some evil act, most probable. Sometimes we think “I will hit him once”, “I have to kill him, this is my enemy I will kill him”, “this is anti social we must punish him”. We know the punishment is part of the Judiciary even though sometimes we are following our dreamy Judiciary, we are pronouncing one-sided judgement about any one, and therefore we are giving them dreamy punishment.

Preparation is a very important factor of the Mens Rea. 'Preparation' means 'to arrange means or necessary measures for the commission of the crime'. Basically, offense starts from here for which we get the punishment. While preparation for committing an offense is not generally deemed to be an offence but special variety of acts are defined to be offences although they may constitute preparation to commit those offences

The 'Attempt' is the third stage in the commission of the crime. It is also known as a 'Preliminary Crime'. The term 'Attempt' means “the direct movement towards the commission of crime after necessary preparation has been made.” The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of Maharashtra V/s Mohd.Yakub [(1980) 3SCC 57, 1980 SCC (cri.)513] has observed that an attempt to define the term 'attempt' is a futile exercise. The attempt stage is reached when the culprit takes deliberate overt steps to commit the offence, which need not be a penultimate act.

The fourth essential of crime is the 'Injury' to another person or to society at large. Such injury must be illegally caused to a person. The word 'Injury' has been defined under Section 44 of the Indian Penal Code as "the word 'injury' denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person in body, mind, reputation or property".

Question:

A with an intention to kill B fires a bullet at him, Decide when the offence of attempt to murder was committed or when it would be committed.

Passage 2 

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

In the case of Bachcha Son Of Maheshwari Deen ... vs State Of U.P., it was held that “Now comes the question as to whether the appellant can be found guilty for the offence of "attempt to commit rape". To assess as to whether there was an attempt to commit rape or not by the appellant, we have to see as to what an attempt means. In every crime there is first, intention to commit, secondly, preparation to commit it, and thirdly, attempt to commit it. If the third stage i.e. the attempt is successful then the crime is complete. If the attempt fails, the crime is not complete but the law punishes the person attempting the act. Section 511 is a general provision dealing with attempts to commit offences not made punishable by other specific sections. It makes all attempts to commit offences punishable with imprisonment and not only those punishable with death. An attempt is made punishable, because every attempt, although it falls short of success, must create alarm, which by itself is an injury, and the moral guilt of the offender is the same as if he had succeeded. Moral guilt must be united to injury in order to justify punishment. As the injury is not as great as if the act had been committed, only half the punishment is awarded.

A culprit first intends to commit the offence, then makes preparation for committing and thereafter attempts to commit the offence. If the attempt succeeds, he has committed the offence; if it fails due to reasons beyond his control, he is said to have attempted to commit the offence. Attempt to commit an offence can be said to begin when the preparations are complete and the culprit commences to do something with the intention of committing the offence and which is a step towards the commission of the offence. The moment he commences to do an act with the necessary intention, he commences his attempt to commit the offence. The word 'attempt' is not itself defined, and must, therefore, be taken in its ordinary meaning. This is exactly what the provisions of Section 511 require. An attempt to commit a crime is to be distinguished from an intention to commit it, and from preparation made for its commission. Mere intention to commit an offence, not followed by any act, cannot constitute an offence. The Will is not to be taken for the deed unless there be some external act that shows that progress has been made in the direction of it, or towards maturing and affecting it. Intention is the direction of conduct towards the object chosen upon considering the motives which suggest the choice.”

Question:

X who gets a weapon or a pistol from a licensed arms and ammunition store with a permit, however, has the ultimate aim of murdering his long-term enemy Y. He keeps the weapon in his pocket but nothing does more than that. One day, X finds Y in the nearby nursery and fires, aiming at him. In the event that the shot hits Y causing fatal injury leading to his death, the attempt of X is fruitful and the goal of X is achieved. But what would be the liability of X if Y got only injured?

Passage 2 

Read the passage and answer the question that follow.

In the case of Bachcha Son Of Maheshwari Deen ... vs State Of U.P., it was held that “Now comes the question as to whether the appellant can be found guilty for the offence of "attempt to commit rape". To assess as to whether there was an attempt to commit rape or not by the appellant, we have to see as to what an attempt means. In every crime there is first, intention to commit, secondly, preparation to commit it, and thirdly, attempt to commit it. If the third stage i.e. the attempt is successful then the crime is complete. If the attempt fails, the crime is not complete but the law punishes the person attempting the act. Section 511 is a general provision dealing with attempts to commit offences not made punishable by other specific sections. It makes all attempts to commit offences punishable with imprisonment and not only those punishable with death. An attempt is made punishable, because every attempt, although it falls short of success, must create alarm, which by itself is an injury, and the moral guilt of the offender is the same as if he had succeeded. Moral guilt must be united to injury in order to justify punishment. As the injury is not as great as if the act had been committed, only half the punishment is awarded.

A culprit first intends to commit the offence, then makes preparation for committing and thereafter attempts to commit the offence. If the attempt succeeds, he has committed the offence; if it fails due to reasons beyond his control, he is said to have attempted to commit the offence. Attempt to commit an offence can be said to begin when the preparations are complete and the culprit commences to do something with the intention of committing the offence and which is a step towards the commission of the offence. The moment he commences to do an act with the necessary intention, he commences his attempt to commit the offence. The word 'attempt' is not itself defined, and must, therefore, be taken in its ordinary meaning. This is exactly what the provisions of Section 511 require. An attempt to commit a crime is to be distinguished from an intention to commit it, and from preparation made for its commission. Mere intention to commit an offence, not followed by any act, cannot constitute an offence. The Will is not to be taken for the deed unless there be some external act that shows that progress has been made in the direction of it, or towards maturing and affecting it. Intention is the direction of conduct towards the object chosen upon considering the motives which suggest the choice.”

Question:

Which among the following is not an element of the crime?

Read the given passage and answer the following questions
Explaining the aspect of penal responsibility Salmond wrote, "There are two conditions to be fulfilled before penal responsibility can be imposed. The one is the doing of some act by the person to be held liable. A man is to be held responsible only for what he does, not for what other persons do, or for events independent of human activity altogether. The other is the mens rea or guilty mind with which the act is done. It is not enough that a man has done some act which on account of its mischievous results the law prohibits; before the law can justly punish the act, an inquiry must be made into the mental attitude of the doer”. Although the act may have been objectively wrongful, the mind and will of the doer may have been innocent.” 

As a general rule, therefore "a guilty mind is an essential ingredient of crime at common law, and that prima facie penal statutes should be so construed as to make mens rea an ingredient of any offense created. However, this general rule is subject to certain exceptions where the legislature has dispensed with the requirement of mens rea and has created offenses of strict liability.

In some cases, the courts have concluded that despite the absence of express language the legislature intended that mens rea was a necessary ingredient of the offense. In others, the statute has been interpreted as creating a strict liability irrespective of mens rea. Instances of this strict liability have arisen in the legislation concerning food and drugs, liquor licensing, and many other matters.

Question:

P was insulted by his principal for performing vulgar dance steps at the annual function of the school. P thought that he will add poison to the tea of his principal for publicly humiliating him. Decide on the liability.

Read the given passage and answer the following question

Explaining the aspect of penal responsibility Salmond wrote, "There are two conditions to be fulfilled before penal responsibility can be imposed. The one is the doing of some act by the person to be held liable. A man is to be held responsible only for what he does, not for what other persons do, or for events independent of human activity altogether. The other is the mens rea or guilty mind with which the act is done. It is not enough that a man has done some act which on account of its mischievous results the law prohibits; before the law can justly punish the act, an inquiry must be made into the mental attitude of the doer”. Although the act may have been objectively wrongful, the mind and will of the doer may have been innocent.” 

As a general rule, therefore "a guilty mind is an essential ingredient of crime at common law, and that prima facie penal statutes should be so construed as to make mens rea an ingredient of any offense created. However, this general rule is subject to certain exceptions where the legislature has dispensed with the requirement of mens rea and has created offenses of strict liability.

In some cases, the courts have concluded that despite the absence of express language the legislature intended that mens rea was a necessary ingredient of the offense. In others, the statute has been interpreted as creating a strict liability irrespective of mens rea. Instances of this strict liability have arisen in the legislation concerning food and drugs, liquor licensing, and many other matters.

Question:

A lorry driver was feeling dizzy due to sleeplessness but was still driving constantly without taking a rest. He suddenly saw a little girl running across the road but by the time he could do anything the girl was hit by a lorry and the girl died. Decide the liability of the driver.

Passage 7

Read the passage very carefully and answer the following questions.

The human mind created luxuries, due to the simultaneous increase in population, many people were deprived of the necessities which led to the development of negative thinking. People wanted to fulfil their basic necessities at any cost and hence they started resorting to crime. For an act of crime to be accomplished, the following four elements are needed: · Individual: The first and the most important element for the commission of a crime is an individual who has an intention and is prepared to commit a crime. · Mens rea: Mens rea in Latin means “guilty mind”. For a crime to be committed, a criminal intention is an essential element. · Actus rea: Actus rea in Latin means “guilty act”. For a crime to be committed, along with a criminal intention there should also be an external act. · Injury/hurt: The criminal act should be accompanied by an injury or hurt which is physical, mental, or monetary which violates a law of the state. The commission of crime involves four stages: · Intention: For the commission of a crime, the first important stage is criminal intention. However, just having a criminal intention is not punishable until it is conveyed to someone else in words or by acts. Example: An intention to kill someone. · Groundwork: To commit a crime, prior preparation is necessary if the crime is intentional. It is difficult for the court to punish an individual purely based on a preparation plan until and unless it is executed. For example, murder, dacoity, etc. · Preliminary crime: An attempt to commit a crime is considered a preliminary crime. An attempt should include a criminal intention, an act towards committing a crime, and an act of crime that is not completely accomplished. Example: Attempt to murder · Completion of crime: This is the last stage in the commission of a crime. The criminal completes the crime. A suspect is guilty of an offence only if he succeeds in his criminal activity. Example: Successful accomplishment of murder.

Question : During October, importing milk/milk products in Delhi had been made an offence. S, a supplier of milk, establish a secret import of milk through an agent from Awadh. The very first consignment of milk was detained at the border, however, it contained only soybeans milk which was not a banned item. There was a clear indication that S envisioned importing unlawfully real milk only but the agent had cheated him by supplying soya milk. S is charged with an attempt to import a banned item. Select the correct option.