![]() “Act of a person of unsound mind- nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, by reason of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong or contrary to law.” INDIAN CONCEPT OF UNSOUNDNESS OF MIND Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 reads: The chapter related to general exceptions includes within its ambit the provisions which can be used as a valid defence to get exemptions from the establishment of the criminal liability and section 84 which provides immunity to a person of ‘unsound’ mind is discussed in this paper in order to provide a concise, yet detailed understanding of the provision related to unsoundness of mind as provider under the Indian Penal Code 1860. Now, when it comes to Section 84 of the Indian penal code, then it should be acknowledged that section 84 falls under chapter IV which is related to’ general exceptions’ under the code. The legal maxim Actus Non-Facet Reum Nisi Mens sit Rea which means that ‘The act and the intent must both conquer together in order to constitute a crime.’Īccording to this legal maxim no person will be punished for the malicious intent or wrongful act alone, rather both the elements must be present at the same time to prove a person guilty.Ī person will only be punished for his or her act under criminal law when he has the complete knowledge about the nature of the act and also, he has done that act with his free will and consent. It is a well-established principle of criminal law that there are basically 2 elements which are necessary to be established in order to prove him guilty for an offence which are namely Mens Rea (guilty mind) and Actus Reus (wrong or unlawful Action). This paper basically focuses on the detailed concept of the liability of a person who is of unsound mind in criminal matters. It is just that the reference is done in different countries by different terms. Actually, as we all are aware, the terms ‘unsoundness of mind’ and ‘insanity’ are same and can be used interchangeably. This paper deals descriptively with the concept unsoundness of mind (as in Indian law). The authors are eventually hopeful that this paper benefits the readers to the maximum limit possible. Using the qualitative method of research, the authors have tried their level best to deal with the holistic concept of insanity in the light of judicial pronouncements and the 42 nd report of the law commission of India. ![]() Even if there is no requirement of change according to the law commission but still it is a well-acknowledged fact that as we live in an ever-changing society there is always a room for improvement in the existing laws. ![]() Further, this paper deals with the sub-topics namely legal and medical insanity in connection with each other and also this paper tries to deal with various tests to determine insanity of an individual.įurther, the authors have contributed with regard to the suggestive measures to improves the loopholes in the existing law, in the form of conclusion. This paper traces the origin of section 84 of IPC which is based upon the McNaughton rule under the English law. This dynamic nature has encouraged the authors to write a descriptive paper considering all the important aspects of the law of unsoundness of mind under Indian criminal law. The criminal law has been of a dynamic nature since its inception in India. ** 3rd Year BA LLB Student, Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh ![]() * 3rd Year BA LLB Student, Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar Pradesh Written by Rajat Shandilya* & Roman Khan** ![]()
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