Agreement, concert or league

The offence of criminal conspiracy under section 120A is a distinct offence introduced for the first time in 1913 in Chapter VA of the Penal Code. The very agreement, concert or league is the ingredient of the offence. It is not necessary that all the conspirators must know each and every detail of the conspiracy as long as they are co- participators in the main object of the conspiracy.

There may be so many devices and techniques adopted to achieve the common goal of the conspiracy and there may be division of performances in the chain of actions with one object to achieve the real end of which every collaborator must be aware and in which each one of them must be interested. There must be unity of object or purpose but there may be plurality of means sometimes even unknown to one another, amongst the conspirators. In achieving the goal several offences, may be committed by some of the conspirators even unknown to the others.

The only relevant factor is that all means adopted and illegal acts done must be and purported to be in furtherance of the object of the conspiracy even though there may be sometimes misfire or over-shooting by some of the conspirators. Even if some steps are resorted to by one or two- of the conspirators without the knowledge of the others it will not affect the culpability of those others when they are associated with the object of the conspiracy.

Major B. G. Darsay v. The State of Bombay

The significance of criminal conspiracy under section 120A is brought out pithily by this Court in Major B. G. Darsay v. The State of Bombay[1] thus:

“The gist of the offences is an agreement to break the law. The parties to such an agreement will be guilty of criminal conspiracy, though the illegal act agreed to be done has not been done. So too, it is not an ingredient of the offence that all the parties should agree to do a single illegal act. It may comprise the commission of a number of acts. Under s. 43 of the Indian Penal Code, an act would be illegal if it is an offence or if it is prohibited by law.

Under the first charge the accused are charged with have conspired to do three categories of illegal acts, and the mere fact that all of them could not be convicted separately in respect of each of the offences has no relevancy in considering the question whether the offence of conspiracy has been committed. They are all guilty of the offence of conspiracy to do illegal acts, though for in- dividual offences all of them may not be liable.”

The main object of the criminal conspiracy in the first charge is undoubtedly cheating by personation. The other means adopted, inter alia, are preparation or causing to be prepared spurious passports; forging or causing to be forged entries and endorsements in that connection; and use of or causing to be used forged passports as genuine in order to facilitate travel of persons abroad.

The final object of the conspiracy in the first charge being the offence of cheating by personation, and we find, the other offence described therein are steps, albeit, offences themselves, in aid of the ultimate crime. The charge does not connote plurality of objects of the conspiracy. That the appellant himself is not charged with the ultimate offence, which is the object of the criminal conspiracy, is beside the point in a charge under section 120B IPC as long as he is a party to the conspiracy with the end in view.

Whether the charges will be ultimately established against the accused is a completely different matter within the domain of the trial court. The principal object of the criminal conspiracy in the first charge is thus “cheating by personation” and without achieving that goal other acts would be of no material use in which any person could be necessarily interested. That the appellant himself does not personate another person is beside the point when he is alleged to be a collaborator of the conspiracy with that object. We have seen that some persons have been individually and specifically charged with cheating by personation under section 419 IPC.

They were also charged along with the appellant under section 120B IPC. The object of criminal conspiracy is absolutely clear and there is no substance in the argument that the object is merely to cheat simpliciter under section 417 IPC. Section 196A(2) Cr. P. C. provides that “no court shall take cognizance of the offence of criminal conspiracy punishable under section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code, in a case where the object of the conspiracy is to commit any non-cognizable offence, or a cognizable offence not punishable with death, imprisonment for life or rigorous imprisonment for a term of two years or upwards, unless the State Government or a Chief Presidency Magistrate or District Magistrate empowered in this behalf by the State Government has, by order in writing, consented to the initiation of the proceedings.”

Reference

Yash Pal Mittal v. State of Punjab (1977)

[1] [1962] 2 S.C.R. 195 at 228