TMI Blog1961 (4) TMI 93X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d on April 9, 1954, proper admission card for him was despatched to the Headmaster of the School. Information reached the University about the appellant s being not a graduate and being not a teacher. Inquiries were made and it was found that the certificates attached to the application were forged, that the appellant was not a graduate and was not a teacher and that in fact he had been de-barred from taking any University examination for a certain number of years on account of his having committed corrupt practice at a University examination. In consequence, the matter was reported to the police which, on investigation, prosecuted the appellant. The appellant was acquitted of the charge of forging those certificates, but was convicted of the offence of attempting to cheat inasmuch as he, by false representations, deceived the University and induced the authorities to issue the admission card, which, if the fraud had not been detected, would have been ultimately delivered to the appellant. Learned counsel for the appellant raised two contentions. The first is that the facts found did not amount to the appellant s committing an attempt to cheat the University but amounted just ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Examination. In Queen Empress v. Appasami ( (1889) I.L.R. 12 Mad. 151) it was held that the ticket entitling the accused to enter the examination room and be there examined for the Matriculation test of the University was property . In Queen Empress v. Soshi Bhushan ((1893) I.L.R. 15 All. 210) it was held that the term property in s. 463, Indian Penal Code, included the written certificate to the effect that the accused had attended, during a certain period, a course of law lectures and had paid up his fees. We need not therefore consider the alternative case regarding the possible commission of the offence of cheating by the appellant, by his inducing the University to permit him to sit for the examination, which it would not have done if it had known the true facts and the appellant causing damage to its reputation due to its permitting him to sit for the examination. We need not also therefore consider the further question urged for the appellant that the question of the University suffering in its reputation is not immediately connected with the accused s conduct in obtaining the necessary permission. Another contention for the appellant is that the facts proved ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mpt to commit a particular offence is a question of fact dependent on the nature of the offence and the steps necessary to take in order to commit it. No exhaustive precise definition of what would amount to an attempt to commit an offence is possible. The cases referred to make this clear. We may refer to some decided cases on the construction of s. 511, Indian Penal Code. In The Queen v. Ramsarun Chowbey ((1872) 4 N.W.P. 46. ) it was said at p. 47: To constitute then the offence of attempt under this section (s. 511), there must be an act done with the intention of committing an offence, and for the purpose of committing that offence, and it must be done in attempting the commission of the offence. Two illustrations of the offence of attempt as defined in this section are given in the Code; both are illustrations of cases in which the offence has been committed. In each we find an act done with the intent of committing an offence and immediately enabling the commission of the offence, although it was not an act which constituted a part of the offence,, and in each we find the intention of the person making the attempt was frustrated by circumstances independent of hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d upon him may be a very considerable interval of time. There may be the interposition of inquiries and other acts upon his part. The acts whereby those preparations may be brought to bear upon her mind may be several in point of number, and yet the first act after preparations completed will, if criminal in itself, be beyond all doubt, equally an attempt with the ninety and ninth act in the series. Again, the attempt once begun and a criminal act done in pursuance of it towards the commission of the act attempted, does not cease to be a criminal attempt, in my opinion, because the person (1) I.L.R. 15 All. 173. committing the offence does or may repent before the attempt is completed . Blair, J., said at p. 181: It seems to me that section (s. 511) uses the word attempt in a very large sense; it seems to imply that such an attempt may be made up of a series of acts, and that any one of those acts done towards the commission of the offence, that is, conducive to its commission, is itself punishable, and though the act does not use the words, it can mean nothing but punishable as an attempt. It does not say that the last act which would form the final part of an at ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ms were not held to amount to his attempting to commit forgery as the printed form would not be a false document without the addition of a seal or signature purporting to be the seal or signature of the company. The learned Judge observed at p. 356: ........... I think that he would not be guilty of an attempt to commit forgery until he had done some act towards making one of the forms a false document. If, for instance, he had been caught in the act of writing the name of the Company upon the printed form and had only completed a single letter of the name, I think that he would have been guilty of the offence charged, because (to use the words of Lord Blackburn) the actual transaction would have commenced, which would have ended in the crime of forgery, if not interrupted . The learned Judge quoted what Lord Blackburn said in Reg. v. Chessman (Lee Cave s Rep. 145.): There is no doubt a difference between the preparation antecedent to an offence and the actual attempt; but if the actual transaction has commenced, which would have ended in the crime if not interrupted, there is clearly an attempt to commit the crime. , He also quoted what Cockburn, C. J., said in M ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in most of the cases, the dividing line is very thin. Nonetheless, it is a real distinction. The crucial test is whether the last act, if uninterrupted and successful, would constitute a crime. If the accused intended that the natural consequence of his act should result in death but was frustrated only by extraneous circumstances, he would be guilty of an attempt to commit the offence of murder. The illustrations in the section (s. 511) bring out such an idea clearly. In both the illustrations, the accused did all he could do but was frustrated from committing the offence of theft because the article was removed from the jewel box in one case and the pocket was empty in the other case. The observations the crucial test is whether the last act, if uninterrupted and successful, would constitute a crime were made in connection with an attempt to commit murder by shooting at the victim and are to be understood in that context. There, the nature of the offence was such that no more than one act was necessary for the commission of the offence. We may summarise our views about the construction of s. 511, Indian Penal Code, thus: A personal commits the offence of attempt to com ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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