Extortion, Robbery and Dacoity

Section 309(3), extortion becomes robbery. Extortion is robbery if the offender, at the time of committing it, is in the presence of the person put in fear, commits the extortion by putting that person in fear of instant death, instant hurt or instant wrongful restraint to that person or some other, and by so putting in fear induces him then and there to deliver up the thing extorted. The Explanation provides that the offender is present if he is sufficiently near to put the other in fear of instant death, hurt or wrongful restraint.

Section 309(4) to (6), punishment. Robbery: rigorous imprisonment up to ten years and fine, extended to fourteen years if committed on the highway between sunset and sunrise. Attempt: rigorous imprisonment up to seven years and fine. Where hurt is voluntarily caused in committing or attempting robbery, that person and any other jointly concerned: imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment up to ten years, and fine.

Section 310, dacoity. Five or more conjointly committing or attempting robbery, or the whole number of those committing or attempting and those present and aiding amounting to five or more. Punishment: imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment up to ten years, and fine. Sub-section (3): if any one of five or more conjointly committing dacoity commits murder in so committing it, every one of them is punished with death, or imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment of not less than ten years, and fine. Sub-section (4): making any preparation for committing dacoity is punished with rigorous imprisonment up to ten years and fine.

Sections 311 and 312, minimum sentences. Where at the time of committing robbery or dacoity the offender uses a deadly weapon, causes grievous hurt, or attempts to cause death or grievous hurt, the imprisonment shall not be less than seven years. Where at the time of attempting robbery or dacoity the offender is armed with a deadly weapon, the imprisonment shall not be less than seven years.

Section 313. Belonging to a gang of persons associated for the purpose of habitually committing dacoity.

Broken down: the three tests

Extortion has four elements. Intentionally putting a person in fear of injury; to that person or to any other; thereby dishonestly inducing him to deliver; property, valuable security, or something signed or sealed convertible into a valuable security.

Note what extortion does not require. The delivery need not be to the offender. The section says "deliver to any person".

Theft becomes robbery on three conditions. The violence or fear must be caused or attempted; it must be for the end of committing the theft, or in committing it, or in carrying away the property; and the fear must be of instant death, hurt or wrongful restraint.

Extortion becomes robbery on three different conditions. Presence, fear of instant harm, and delivery then and there. Extortion at a distance, or with a delay, is not robbery however frightening the threat.

Dacoity is a matter of counting. Five or more, conjointly, and the count includes those present and aiding as well as those committing. If the number is four, it is robbery.

Distinctions that carry marks

A worked example

Four men stop a jeweller's van on a highway at nine at night, threaten the driver with knives, and take a case of gold.

Is it theft? Yes, at its base: movable property moved out of possession without consent with dishonest intention.

Is it robbery? Yes. Under section 309(2), in order to committing the theft the offenders caused fear of instant hurt, so the theft is robbery. Because it was on a highway between sunset and sunrise, section 309(4) allows the imprisonment to be extended to fourteen years.

Is it dacoity? No. There are four of them. Section 310 needs five or more conjointly committing or attempting, counting those present and aiding.

Add a fifth man waiting in a car nearby as a lookout. Now the whole number of persons conjointly committing and present and aiding amounts to five, so every one of them commits dacoity, punishable with imprisonment for life or rigorous imprisonment up to ten years and fine.

They carried knives. Section 311 applies: where at the time of committing robbery or dacoity the offender uses a deadly weapon, the imprisonment shall not be less than seven years.

One of them shoots the driver dead. Section 310(3) applies to every one of the five, whoever fired: death, or imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment of not less than ten years, and fine.

A different case. Suppose a man telephones a shopkeeper and says that unless twenty thousand rupees is left at a bus stop the next day, his shop will be burned. The shopkeeper leaves the money.

Extortion or robbery? Extortion under section 308(1): fear of injury, dishonestly inducing delivery. Not robbery, because the caller was not present, the fear was not of instant harm, and the delivery was not then and there.

Change one fact. Suppose the man stands in the shop and says the same thing while holding a can of petrol, and the shopkeeper hands over the money immediately. Now section 309(3) is satisfied: presence, fear of instant hurt, delivery then and there. It is robbery.

What beginners get wrong

Thinking robbery is a separate offence from theft and extortion. Section 309(1) says in all robbery there is either theft or extortion. Robbery is an aggravated form of one of them.

Forgetting the word "instant". It is what turns extortion into robbery, and its absence keeps a threat of future harm at the level of extortion.

Counting only those who used force for dacoity. The count includes persons present and aiding.

Thinking section 310(3) needs proof of who killed. It does not. Every one of the five or more is punished, and death is available against all.

Limits and criticism

Section 310(3) is the most severe constructive liability in the Sanhita. Death is available against a person who did not kill, did not know a killing was likely and may have been standing outside, and the only requirement is that he was one of five or more conjointly committing dacoity.

The highway at night provision is an antique. Fourteen years for a robbery on a highway between sunset and sunrise is a distinction drawn when highways were empty and unlit.

Preparation for dacoity is punished with ten years. That is one of the very few places in the Sanhita where preparation alone is punished, and it is punished heavily.

The grading of extortion in seven sub-sections is hard to hold. Four of them turn on whether the offender put a person in fear or actually obtained the property, and two more on whether the threat was of an accusation, and the distinctions produce overlapping maxima of seven and ten years.

Quick revision

Section 308. Extortion: intentionally putting in fear of injury and thereby dishonestly inducing delivery of property, valuable security or a signed or sealed thing. Seven years; ten where the fear is of death or grievous hurt, or of an accusation of a grave offence.

Section 309(1). In all robbery there is either theft or extortion.

Section 309(2). Theft is robbery where death, hurt or wrongful restraint, or fear of the instant kind, is caused or attempted for the end of the theft, in it, or in carrying away.

Section 309(3). Extortion is robbery where the offender is present, the fear is of instant harm, and delivery is then and there.

Section 309(4) to (6). Ten years, fourteen on a highway between sunset and sunrise; attempt, seven years; hurt caused, life or ten years, for that person and all jointly concerned.

Section 310. Dacoity: five or more conjointly, counting those present and aiding. Life or ten years. Murder by any one: death, life or not less than ten years for every one of them. Preparation: ten years.

Sections 311 and 312. Deadly weapon, grievous hurt, or attempt to cause death or grievous hurt in robbery or dacoity, and being armed in an attempt: not less than seven years.

Test yourself

1. What does section 309(1) say about the relationship between the offences? That in all robbery there is either theft or extortion, so robbery is an aggravated form of one of those two rather than an independent offence.

2. What three things turn extortion into robbery? The offender's presence; fear of instant death, instant hurt or instant wrongful restraint; and a delivery of the thing extorted then and there.

3. How many persons are needed for dacoity, and who is counted? Five or more, counting both those conjointly committing or attempting the robbery and those present and aiding the commission or attempt.

4. If one of six dacoits commits murder during the dacoity, who is liable and to what? Every one of them, under section 310(3), with death, or imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment of not less than ten years, and fine.

5. What minimum sentence applies where a deadly weapon is used in a robbery? Not less than seven years, under section 311, which also applies where grievous hurt is caused or an attempt is made to cause death or grievous hurt.