Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur

Session: 2020-21

Topic: Criminal Conspiracy under IPC

Subject:

Year and Semester: II Year (III Semester)

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Mr. Animesh Jha, Akshat Shrivastava
Assistant Professor of Law Roll No.: BAL/104/19

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks and gratitude to the people who have helped me
throughout the project; Mr. Balraj Singh Chauhan (Vice Chancellor), Dr. Shilpa Jain (Head
of Department/Associate Professor of Law), Mr. Animesh Jha (Assistant Professor of Law)
who gave me this golden opportunity to do research on the topic “Criminal Conspiracy under
IPC” and provided valuable advice regarding the project. I would also like to thank my parents
who have always supported me morally as well as financially, and my friends who directly or
indirectly helped me in finalising this project within the limited time frame.

Any omission in this brief acknowledgement does not mean lack of gratitude.

- Akshat Shrivastava

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 Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................................... 2

Chapter-1.................................................................................................................................... 4

Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 4

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 4

Chapter-2.................................................................................................................................... 5

Research Objective ................................................................................................................ 5

Research Question ................................................................................................................. 5

Research Problem .................................................................................................................. 5

Review of Literature .............................................................................................................. 5

Research Methodology .......................................................................................................... 5

Chapter-3.................................................................................................................................... 6

Criminal Conspiracy – Concept ............................................................................................. 6

Chapter-4.................................................................................................................................. 10

Proof of Conspiracy ............................................................................................................. 10

Nature and Scope of Section 120-A..................................................................................... 10

Chapter-5.................................................................................................................................. 12

Proposal for Reforms ........................................................................................................... 12

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 12

References ............................................................................................................................ 13

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 Chapter-1

Abstract
In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime
at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require
that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance of that agreement, to constitute an
offense. There is no limit on the number participating in the conspiracy and, in most countries,
no requirement that any steps have been taken to put the plan into effect. For the purposes of
concurrence under a conspiracy, the actus reus (criminal act) is a continuing one and parties
may join the plot later and incur joint liability and thus, conspiracy can be charged where the
co-conspirators have been acquitted or cannot be traced. Finally, repentance by one or more
parties does not affect liability (unless, in some cases, it occurs before the parties have
committed overt acts) but may reduce their sentence. This paper shall track the jurisprudential
evolution of the concept of criminal conspiracy under Indian Penal Code, through various
cases.

Introduction
A conspiracy consists not merely in the intention of two or more, but in the agreement of two
or more people to do an unlawful act by unlawful means or a lawful act by unlawful means. So
long as such a design rests in intention only, it is not indictable. Section 120-A of the Indian
Penal Code deals with the definition of criminal conspiracy and Section 120-B deals with the
punishment for the same. According to Edward Coke, conspiracy was originally a statutory
remedy against false accusation and prosecution by "a consultation and agreement between
two or more to appeal or indict an innocent man falsely and maliciously of felony, whom they
cause to be indicted and appealed; and afterward the party is lawfully acquitted". In Poulterer's
Case, the court reasoned that the thrust of the crime was the confederating of two or more, and
dropped the requirement that an actual indictment of an innocent take place, whereby the
precedent was set that conspiracy only needs to involve an attempted crime, and that the
agreement was the act which enabled subsequent holdings against an agreement to commit any
crime. The concept of a criminal conspiracy is based on joint liability

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 Chapter-2

Research Objective

➢ To understand the concept and scope of criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal
Code.
➢ To trace the evolution of the concept of criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal
Code.

Research Question

• What is Criminal Conspiracy under Indian Penal Code?

• What are the elements of Criminal Conspiracy?
• What are the various important judicial interpretations of Criminal Conspiracy?

Research Problem

How has judicial interpretation broadened the concept of criminal conspiracy under the Indian
Penal Code?

Review of Literature

The literature review for this project was conducted in the month of December of 2020. The
following list identifies the online literature used as sources and the aspects discussed in them
which were utilized in this project:

➢ The Indian Penal Code by Prof. S.N. Misra and Criminal Law by PSA Pillai, to gain a
better understanding of the concept and ingredients of criminal conspiracy.
➢ Online databases like SCC Online and Lexis Nexis were used to access relevant cases.
➢ Other online sources were used to expand upon the ingredients or elements of criminal
conspiracy.

Research Methodology

The research conducted was doctrinal in nature. Secondary sources available online were
analysed in order to explore the present scope of criminal conspiracy.

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 Chapter-3

Criminal Conspiracy – Concept

According to Section 120-A of Indian Penal code,

Definition of criminal conspiracy – When two or more persons agree to do, or cause to be
done,-

1. an illegal act, or
2. an act which is not illegal by illegal means,

such an agreement is designated a criminal conspiracy: Provided that no agreement except an

agreement to commit an offence shall amount to a criminal conspiracy unless some act besides
the agreement is done by one or more parties to such agreement in pursuance thereof.
Explanation – It is immaterial whether the illegal act is the ultimate object of such agreement,
or is merely incidental to that object.

With the inclusion of Sections 120A and 120B, the IPC now encompasses the law of conspiracy
to cover the following:

(i) Conspiracy as a substantive offence (Chapter V-A: Sections 120A and 120B);
(ii) Conspiracy as a form of abetment (Chapter V: Section 107 Secondly);
(iii) Conspiracy to wage, attempt to or abet war against the Government of India
(Chapters VI: Section 121A), and
(iv) Involvement in specific offences (Chapter XVI: Sections 310 and 311; Chapter
XVII: Sections 400, 401 and 402).

In Rajiv Kumar v State of UP1, the court took out some basic necessary ingredients in order to
constitute conspiracy,

1. There must be two or more persons;

2. There must be an illegal act or an act in an illegal way;
3. There must be a meeting of minds;
4. There must be an agreement regarding the same thing.

1
CA NO.251 OF 2017 WITH CA NO.252 OF 2017

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The ingredients must be present in any act in order to constitute it as a crime of criminal
conspiracy. In Pratapbhai Hamirbhai Solanki v. State of Gujarat and another2, the apex court
held that the most important ingredient is the intent to cause an illegal act.

The essential elements of a criminal conspiracy can also be divided into:

1. Two or more must agree

The presence and involvement of two or more persons is necessary. It was held in State of
HP v. Krishna Lal that the offense of criminal conspiracy consists in a meeting of mind of
two or more persons for agreeing to do or causing to be done an illegal act or an act by
illegal means, and the performance of an act in terms thereof. If the criminal conspiracy is
committed through multiple offences, then all of the conspirators will be liable for the
offences even if some of them had not actively participated in the commission of some of
the offences. The essence of a conspiracy lies in the agreement to break the law. If they
agree to do an illegal act, they shall be guilty of criminal conspiracy, through the illegal act
agreed to be done has not been done.3

2. One person alone cannot be held guilty

Two or more persons must be parties to the agreement and one person cannot be held guilty
of the offence of criminal conspiracy for the simple reason that one cannot conspire with
oneself.4 When only two people are charged under Section 120-B (Punishment of criminal
conspiracy) and one is acquitted, the other alone cannot be punished. 5 However, Supreme
Court, in Bimbdhar Pradhan v. State of Orissa, held that “it is not essential that more than
one person should be convicted of the offence of conspiracy. It is enough if they court is in
a position to find that two or more persons were actually concerned in a criminal
conspiracy. If it is proved that two or more were engaged in a conspiracy, although they
could not be caught, one alone may be convicted.6

3. Illegal Act

3
Major E.G.Barsay v. The State of Bombay, A.I.R. 1961 S.C. 1762
4
Topandas v. State of Bombay, (1955) A.I.R. 1956 S.C.33
5
Kasem Ali v. King Emperor AIR 1927 Cal 949, 101 Ind Cas 481
6
R.V. Thompson (1851) 16 Q.B. 832

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 To constitute the offence of criminal conspiracy an agreement must be to do an act which
is contrary to or forbidden by law. An agreement, which is immoral or against public policy,
or in restraint of trade or otherwise of such a character that the courts will not enforce it, is
not necessarily illegal.7 But since an act may be illegal without being criminal it can be said
that an agreement to do an illegal act may amount to criminal conspiracy though it may not
be punishable as such.8 It may be an offence to conspire with another to do an act which, if
done alone, would not be criminal.

4. Illegal Means
Agreement to do an act which even though lawful by unlawful means constitutes
conspiracy. The end does not justify the means. For instance, it is not illegal to undersell a
rival trader, but it would be illegal for the latter to combine to ruin the seller of cheap goods
by inducing to give credit to a bankrupt purchaser and thereby cause him loss.9

5. Overt act
Where the agreement is to do an act which would not be an offence, some overt act in
pursuance of the agreement needs to be done' in order to constitute criminal conspiracy.
The overt act must be something distinct from that tending to prove merely the agreement.10
It is not necessary | that every conspirator must be present at every stage of the conspiracy,
or that he must have done some overt act. It may so happen that one may not have done
any overt act, but if it is established that he was a party to the conspiracy that is to say, he
had agreed to the common design and had: not resiled from that agreement, it can be
presumed that he continued to be a party of the conspiracy and he is liable for the acts of
the other conspirators as well.11
In Rajaram Gupta v. Dharamchand,12 it was held that the overt act constituting a conspiracy
are acts either (i) signifying agreement, or (ii) preparatory to the offence, and (iii) acts
constituting the offence itself. The gist of the conspiracy, therefore, lies in forming the
scheme or agreement between the parties. The external or overt act of the crime is concert
by which mutual consent to a common purpose is exchanged.

7
O’ Connel II Cl. & Fin. 155.
8
Whitchurch, 24 Q.B.D 420.
9
Esadaile, 1 F & F 213
10
Gulab Singh, 35 I.C. 991 (All.).
11
Ashok Datta Naik & others v. State, 1979 Cri. L.J. (N.O.C.) 95.
12
1983 Cri. L.J. (M.P.) 612.

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6. No Overt Act Necessary
It was held in Sushil Suri v. C.B.I13 that essential ingredient of criminal conspiracy is
agreement to commit offence. Mere proof of an agreement between the accused for
commission of such crime alone is enough to bring about a conviction under section 120B
of Indian Penal Code. Proof of any overt act by the accused or by any one of them would
not be necessary.

13
(2011) 3 Cr l.J. 2939 (S.C.)

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 Chapter-4

Proof of Conspiracy

The crime is inherently psychological in nature. The proof of such an act is also difficult. It can
be ascertained by the fact that some act was kept a secret. However, this does not constitute an
essential element of the conspiracy. It can be done through:

1. Direct Evidence or;

2. Circumstantial Evidence

It was held in the case of Quinn v. Leathern, that inference is generally deduced from the acts
of the parties in pursuance of the predetermined acts. In such a crime, circumstantial evidence
and direct evidence turn out to be the same because there has not been an act, yet. The act is
only being conspired.

The Doctrine of Agency also comes into play in this scenario. The fact that there was an agency
in the conspiracy may prove that there was involvement of this person in the act. This was held
in Bhagwan Swaroop Lai Bishan Lai v. State of Maharashtra.

Nature and Scope of Section 120-A

The nature and scope of Criminal Conspiracy are limited to conspiring to do an illegal act by
two or more persons. No one person can constitute the offence. It requires two or more persons
to agree to do some act. The underlying purpose of the Sections was to prevent any illegal act
from happening before the constitution of a criminal act. The nature of the sections is
preventive. It helps in the prevention of any criminal activity. The next step after this stage is
the performance of the act. So, the scope of the law is only limited to agreement and meeting
of minds with regards to a criminal act.

In Ram Narayan Popli v CBI14, the court laid down several aspects of Criminal Conspiracy,

a) an object to be accomplished,
b) a plan or scheme embodying means to accomplish that object,

14
Ram Narayan Popli v CBI (2003) 3 SCC 641

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 c) an agreement or understanding between two or more of the accused persons whereby,
they become definitely committed to cooperate for the accomplishment of the object by
the means embodied in the agreement, or by any effectual means, and
d) In the jurisdiction where the statute required an overt act.

When an offence is committed by different persons acting in the same manner but
independently, it cannot be said that there was necessarily a conspiracy. Similarity of methods
followed by them does not establish a planned operation with common intention or consensus,
hence, no conspiracy can be said to be established15. Conspiracy is a continuing offence and it
continues to subsist and committed, whenever one of the conspirators does an act or a series of
acts. So long as its performance continues, it is a continuing offence till it is executed or
rescinded or frustrated by choice or necessity.16 It is not necessary that all conspirators should
agree to the common purpose at the same time. They may join with the other conspirators at
any time before the consummation of the intended objective, and all are equally responsible.

15
Fakhruddin v State of Madhya Pradesh AIR 1967 SC 1326
16
Ajay Agarwal v Union of India AIR 1993 SC 1637

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 Chapter-5

Proposal for Reforms

National commission of Criminal Defence Lawyers has suggested that there must be reforms
regarding conspiracy and proof of the offence. These considerations are still on the table, which
is why the reforms have not been implemented, as of now.

In the absence of proof, relatives or spouses providing food or shelter cannot be treated as
members of a criminal conspiracy even though they may have knowledge about such a
conspiracy.17 This seems to be an area where change is needed. As per the 156th report of Law
Commission of India on Volume 1 of Indian Penal Code, petty offences also come under a
criminal conspiracy. Thus, letting passive involvement in the form of knowledge but no overt
action to participate in the conspiracy go unpunished does not seem to be just and fair. Thus,
reforms should be made in this regard.

Conclusion

Sections 120A and 120B are very integral to the prosecution of premediated or organized
crimes. The formation of concurring intent and an agreement to do an illegal act or a legal act
by illegal means, holds particular relevance in the contemporary society as such crimes or
criminal actions are generally hard to track because of forethought on the part of the persons
involved. Prosecution has to produce evidence not only to show that each of the accused has
knowledge of object of conspiracy, but also the agreement. In the charge of conspiracy, the
court has to guard itself against the danger of unfairness to the accused. Thus, a charge of
criminal conspiracy may allow the court to pronounce judgement on mere agreement to
perform such illegal act, thereby preventing a greater harm.

17
Criminal Law by PSA Pillai

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References

The following sources, aside from those cited, have been used for the purpose of making this
project:

• https://blog.ipleaders.in/criminal-conspiracy-joint-liability/
• 156th report of Law Commission of India on Volume 1 of Indian Penal Code
• Lawcommissionofindia.nic.in
• Lawtimesjournal.in
• https://www.legalbites.in/criminal-conspiracy/

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