Dacoity

By: Prof. S.M. Aamir Ali

391. Dacoity.—When five or more persons conjointly commit or attempt to commit a robbery,
or where the whole number of persons conjointly committing or attempting to commit a robbery,
and persons present and aiding such commission or attempt, amount to five or more, every
person so committing, attempting or aiding, is said to commit “dacoity”.
Dacoity (Aggravated Form of Robbery)
Aggravated form of robbery not only includes robbery but it also includes theft and serious injuries
to the victim. When five or more than five persons commit or attempt to commit a robbery that is
known as dacoity. It is more of an aggravated form of robbery and generally, the robber is armed
with deadly weapons.
Dacoity is defined under Section 391 of the IPC and the punishment for it is defined under Section
395 of the IPC. The only difference between robbery and dacoity is a number of participants.
Section 395 punishes every member of the group in dacoity whether that person takes an active
part or not. The punishment under this section is imprisonment up to 10 years with fine.
Dacoity
According to the dictionary of oxford, dacoity means an act of violent robbery which is committed
by an armed gang. There is only one factor which differentiates dacoity from robbery and that is
the number of offenders. One person can also commit a robbery and more than 1 person can also
commit robbery. But when 5 or more than 5 commit a robbery it is termed as dacoity.
Section 391 of the Indian Penal Code defines robbery. It says that when 5 or more than 5
conjointly commit or attempt to commit a robbery, or where the whole number of persons
conjointly committing or attempting to commit a robbery, and persons present and aiding such
commission or attempt, amount to five or more, every person so committing, attempting or aiding,
is said to commit “dacoity”.
Essential Ingredients
1. The accused commit or attempt to commit robbery;
2. Persons committing or attempting to commit robbery and person present and aiding must not
be less than 5;
3. All such person should act conjointly. (Om Prakash v. State, AIR 1956 All 163)
The word conjointly refers to the united or concerted action of 5 or more persons participating in
the act of committing the offence. In other words, 5 or more person should be concerned in the
commission of the offence and they should commit or attempt to commit robbery.
Sentence for Dacoity
Punishment for dacoity is defined under Section 395 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. This section
says that a person who commits dacoity shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with
rigorous imprisonment for a term which can be extended to ten years, and shall also be liable to
pay the fine. This offence is cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable in nature. The State
vs Sadhu Singh and Ors in this case, four and one kurda Singh was involved in committing a
dacoity. They all were armed with deadly weapons such as rifles and pistols. They committed a
robbery at the house of gharsiram. They injured Gharsiram, jugalkishore, Sandal and Jugalkisore.
The dacoits, in this case, tried to take a wristwatch and a shawl of one person but as they were
villagers the dacoits were not able to take anything with them. When dacoits started running from
the villagers they received a hot chase from them and in return dacoits shot a fire. As a result,
dharma, one of the villagers died but the villages captured one of the dacoits.
In this case, the dacoits were charged under Section 395 of the Indian Penal Code.
Aggravated form of Dacoity
Aggravated form of dacoity is defined under Section 396 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Under
Section 396 aggravated form is defined as dacoity with murder. It says that if anyone of five or
more than five persons, who are conjointly committing dacoity, commits murder in so committing
dacoity, every one of those persons shall be punished with death and shall also be liable to fine.
The ingredients of Section 396 are:
• The offence of dacoity must be committed with the joint act of the accused persons;
• Murder must be committed in course of the commission of the dacoity.
If anyone of the five or more persons who are committing robbery commit murder while
committing dacoity then, every one of them will held liable for murder even if some of them did
not participate in committing the murder. Under Section 396 of the IPC, it is not necessary to prove
whether the murder was committed by a single person or it was committed by all of them. It is also
not necessary to prove the common intention. The prosecution is only required to prove that the
murder was committed while committing the dacoity. If the prosecution successfully proves that
the murder was committed while committing dacoity, then all of the members will be punished
under Section 396 of the IPC.
If the offenders are running and while chasing them if one of the dacoits kill someone then the
other members of the gang can not be held guilty under Section 396 of the IPC. In one of the
landmark case laws i.e. Laliya v state of Rajasthan it was observed that whether the murder is a
part of dacoity or not, it totally depends on the circumstances of that time.
The court decided that the attention has to be paid on these points before coming to a conclusion.
These points are:
• Whether the dacoits retreated or not and the murder was committed while retreating or
not?
• What is the time interval between the attempt of murder and dacoity?
• What is the distance between the places where they attempt to murder and attempt to
dacoity was committed?
In one of the cases i.e. in Shyam Behari v. State of Uttar Pradesh, the dacoit killed one of the
victims, who had caught the robber’s associate in an attempt to commit dacoit. The robber was
convicted under Section 396 of IPC because any murder committed by the dacoits during their
fight would be treated as murder.
Offences Connected with Dacoity
Before committing any offence intention plays a very important role in it. Under criminal law, the
intention is known by Mens Rea. Mens rea means guilty of Mind. For every criminal offence, there
should be Mens rea on the part of the offender. If put in other words it means that there has to be
intention to commit a crime. The term “Intention” has not explicitly defined under the Indian Penal
Code, 1860 But under IPC Section 34 of it deals with common intention.
Section 34 of IPC defines acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention. This
section says that “when a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common
intention of all, every such person is liable for the act in the same manner as if it were done by him
alone.”
This section requires a particular criminal intention or knowledge and the act should be committed
by more than one person. Everyone who joins the act with the knowledge of the consequences, all
of them should be made liable under this section.
Preparation to Commit Dacoity
Section 399 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 has talks about preparation to commit dacoity. It says
that whoever makes any preparation for committing dacoity shall be punished with rigorous
imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Assembling for the Purpose of Committing Dacoity
Assembling for purpose of committing dacoity is defined under Section 402 of the Indian Penal
Code. It says that whoever, at any time after the passing of the act, shall be one of five or more
persons assembled for the purpose of committing dacoity, shall be punished with rigorous
imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.
Section 396 in The Indian Penal Code – Dacoity with murder.
If anyone of five or more persons, who are conjointly committing dacoity, commits murder in so
committing dacoity, every one of those persons shall be punished with death, or 1[imprisonment
for life], or rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be
liable to fine.
In Om Prakash v. State, [AIR 1956 All 163] the offence of robbery and murder took place at the
dead of Night there was official moonlight and Lantern light in a blink eyewitness to identify all
the accused. Held, the offence under section 396 IPC was proper.
Section 397 in The Indian Penal Code – Robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or
grievous hurt.
If, at the time of committing robbery or dacoity, the offender uses any deadly weapon, or causes
grievous hurt to any person, or attempts to cause death or grievous hurt to any person, the
imprisonment with which such offender shall be punished shall not be less than seven years.
Section 398 in The Indian Penal Code – Attempt to commit robbery or dacoity when armed
with deadly weapon.
If at the time of attempting to commit robbery or dacoity, the offender is armed with any
deadly weapon, the imprisonment with which such offender shall be punished shall not be
less than seven years.

Judicial Pronouncements
Arjun Ganpat Sandbhor vs state of Maharashtra
In this case, a truck driver was killed and the truck was taken away by the dacoits. This incident
took place in darkness. The evidence of the son of the deceased, who was in the truck at the time
when the accident took place was not free from doubt. He admitted at that time that he used to
have forgetting tendency. Test identification parade was not held according to guidelines
prescribed under Criminal Manual. In the view of the totality of the evidence the accused was
entitled to acquittal.
Md Imamuddin & Anr. vs. State of Bihar
In this case, the plea was to reduce the punishment for dacoity. Some of them were accused to
commit dacoity in a running train. They were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for
seven years and two years for respective offences. The accused remained in custody for a
substantial amount of time, about 50 per cent of the punishment. Their punishment was reduced to
half and which they have already passed the time in imprisonment.