In simple terms, crime can be understood as the intentional commission of an act that is deemed to be shortly harmful and also prohibited under the criminal laws. The crime is the collective term denoted to Actus reus and Mens rea. Crime is caused by various factors such as poverty, social influence, mental health, biological factor and criminal & societal behavior and upbringing. There are various theories of punishment which are as follows-
The word ‘deter’ means to prevent. Deterrent theory refers to restraining from doing a particular act. It is an ancient theory of punishment. It means object is to fear criminals by punishment and create fear among other person of society. So that they do not commit any offence. Under this, hard punishment such as torture are given to criminals. The main object of the principle is to prevent crime by fear of punishment.
But it is not acceptable in the present times because many reasons are considered to commit offence. Many time man commits offence due to compulsion or unawareness. This theory focuses on how to stop criminals from future crimes and create fear among other mischievous people in society. This theory is supported by-
In other words, the object of this theory is not only to prevent the wrong doer and from doing a wrong subsequently but also to make him an example for society and other tendencies.
1. Specific deterrence- This is on a specific individual. It as the use of punishment for criminal activity intended to discourage a specific individual from committing the crime again. For example, if an armed robber is sentenced to 8 years in prison the specific deterrence makes it less likely that he will come it another armed robbery when he is eventually released.
2. General deterrence- It refers to the public from committing the same crime as those already convicted of such offences. General deterrence is more focused on teaching lessons to the public and not just individual is severally punished.
Case- state of M.P v. Union of India
Supreme Court stated that the sentence must be commensurate with the crime and it is the court responsibility to impose an appropriate sentence based on the extent of the crime and desirability of imposing such punishment.
When a person is dying of Hunger, he will not be bothered on death punishment. In India, the Supreme Court accepted this theory in recent times due to increment in murders dowry, death, rape etc.
Retribute means to give in the return. The theory is also known as Vengeance theory, which means that criminal should receive the same sufferings which are given by him to the victim.
Retributive theory is the most prominent and leading more of punishing a criminal. The theory basically stands on the principle of Revenge. It is based on the doctrine of Lex Talionis, the states that the loss occurred to victims could only be compensated if the same loss is made to the offender.
Sir John Salmond propounded the theory, according to him the main purpose of punishment is to retaliate the harm inflicted by criminal to the society. Thus the society was of opinion that the person doing the wrong should suffer the same proportion of pain. The theory is coned by the multiple phrases such as, an eye for eye, tooth for tooth, limb for limb.
According to Salmond, revenge is not a remedy or cure of the crime but it is a reason in the crimes. Mahatma Gandhi said that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. The objective of this theory is to make that usually the suffering of the pain by subjecting him to the same kind of pain as he had given to the victim.
1. Penalty is grievance.
2. Crime is blameworthy culpable.
1. It expedites the offender.
2. There is no relief for the offense committed by the offender.
3. This type of punishment reflects the wild character of the justice.
Punishment are not always the revenge full but punishment should be the way of compensating the loss occurred to the victim.
It is modern theory of punishment. Its main object is to reform the criminals. This theory supports the principles that criminal can be prevented from crime by changing their heart. According to this, theory many times people commit crimes due to compulsion poverty, emotions, family conditions etc. These persons have feeling of guilt and they should be provided opportunity to reform themselves. This theory is based on Gandhian principle " Hate the sin, not the sinner". This theory was helpful to some extent in case of juveniles.
1. The country should be to transform the criminals rather than simply penalize them.
2. The ideology behind the notion of punishment is not just two offer fairness to victim but also to preserve safety and security in the community.
3. It transforms the criminal into a human.
4. The idea of punitive action is commonly associated with the law of crimes.
1. Section 27- state that any crime not punishable with life imprisonment or if committed by any individual who is below the age of 16 on the day he appears.
2. Section 360- enable Court to grant discharge on probation on good behavior or after admonition.
3. Section 432- the government can suspend or remit the punishment in entirely or in proportion at any period.
Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration, 1980 AIR 1579
The court observed that fate treatment will enhance their personality rather than to affect or regulate their life.
Preventive theory focuses on the prevention of the prisoner from offending the offence again in the future. The death penalty serves the purpose of Preventive theory. The death penalty, life imprisonment etc. is awarded to the criminal under this theory. This theory focuses-
The word expiry means ‘amend or propitate’ theory focuses on morals. This theory is supported by Hagel and Kohler. According to Hagel, ' the punishment makes the criminal to expiate for the wrong done'.
Punishment is a way of penalizing the wrong dower for the harm which has been committed by him against the society. The crime is always against the society and it is a duty of the state to prevent the crime and the prevention of the crime is achieved by way of creating fear in the mind of criminal which is done by punishing the wrong doer.
Punishment has been awarded because:
The main purpose of the punishing the criminal is to protect the society from the mischievous elements and this can be achieved only by deterring the potential offenders. The main objective of punishment is to eradicate evils and reform the criminal and change them into the law abiding citizens.
According to the historical texts and criminal literatures of prison system, the punishment in the ancient India were brutal and cruel. The punishment goals were to take revenge for the wrong done to the society. Penalties fall under the following categories;
The harshness of the punishment now is determined by the seriousness of the crime. If any person commits a serious crime he subjected to the harsh punishment and for the minor and petty offences the punishment is less severe.
The most severe punishment available in the modern Indian Criminology is that sentence is granted in the case of serious offences, which are threat to the humanity and are treated as the rarest of the rare crime. According to the Indian Penal Code, it is given out in the rarest of the rare situation to set an example that the crime is always threat to the civilization.
A person gets a sentence to life in prison for the crimes which are committed by him unlawfully. These are also of great severity but less than the death sentences. Life Imprisonment is termed as alternative to the death sentences. According the Indian Penal System, there us fixed term of life imprisonment, although in some cases of fractional duration, the sentence is usually till the natural life.
The literal meaning of the imprisonment is to detain the criminal into the jails for the time as decided by the judicial authorities. The main objective behind keeping the criminal into the jails is to restrict the basic fundamental freedom of criminals. Imprisonment is sub headed into 3 categories-
a) Rigorous imprisonment: It is denoted by hard labor.
b) Simple Imprisonment: In this kind of imprisonment, the offender is merely kept in custody and are not required to perform any kind of labor or hardship.
c) Solitary Confinement: It is the most severe kind of imprisonment in which the culprit is kept isolated from outside. The main isolated criminals are usually the terrorist and habitual law breakers who are kept into these confinements. They are usually dark small rooms.
It is denoted by loss or surrender of the any property or goods in reciprocal of the punishment. Basically, the property is attached and fine is imposed in perceive of crime committed.
It is newly added mode of punishment in the penal system. The focus of judicial system in now shifting to reformation of criminal for betterment of society rather than punishment him physically and by traditional modes. According to the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, the main purpose of Community Service is to make the convict a better citizen and his reformation should be utilized for goodwill of society.
As discussed above, crime can be understood as intentional commission of an act that is deemed to be socially harmful and also prohibited under criminal law. It is also dynamic concept and its ambit keeps on changing with development of new criminal behavior and punishments.
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1. Author is a student at Geeta Institute of Law, Panipat, Delhi NCR, India.
2. Author is a student at Geeta Institute of Law, Panipat, Delhi NCR, India.