Essay On Insanity As Defence Under Ipc

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ABSTRACT
The topic of my article is the critical review of insanity as defence under IPC. The insanity is a topic that seems to garner a lot of attention even though it is rarely used and only a few cases that invoke are actually successful. Section 84 of Indian Penal Code is the primary legislation dealing with criminal responsibility of mentally ill persons in India. Section 84 – Act of a person of unsound mind – Nothing in an offence which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, by reason of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong or contrary to law. Section 84 states that unsoundness of mind is a defence act of a person to a criminal charge on the theory that ‘one who is insane has no mind and hence cannot have the necessary mens rea to commit crime. Being deprived of …show more content…

The idea for the law of insanity has been laid down by House of Lords in 1843, in what is popularly known as the Mc Naughten case . INTRODUCTION
In law responsibility means liability to punishment. This concept of responsibility is fundamental to our view of as a free, intentional being and is said to form the basis of criminal codes and punishment systems. A person can be liable for any acts he commit, only if he does it with his wish and free will. It is considered that motive is a must for a criminal act. A mere commission of act does not prove a person guilty. Law recognise the concept “ actus non facit reum , nisi mens sit rea “ i.e the physical act alone does not make a person guilty ; the component in the form of evil intent ( guilty mind ) is equally important. Insanity or mental abnormality is one of the general exception to criminal liability recognised by IPC. The justification for providing unsoundness of mind as a complete defence is that an insane person is incapable of forming criminal intent. Further, a mad man has no will (furiosis nulla voluntas est ) and he

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