The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
CHAPTER XVII: OF OFFENCES AGAINST PROPERTY
Of theft
Section 303: Theft.
Bare Act
Section (1) - Theft
Whoever, intending to take dishonestly any movable property out of the possession of any person without that person's consent, moves that property in order to such taking, is said to commit theft.
Explanations
Explanation 1: A thing so long as it is attached to the earth, not being movable property, is not the subject of theft; but it becomes capable of being the subject of theft as soon as it is severed from the earth.
Explanation 2: A moving effected by the same act which affects the severance may be a theft.
Explanation 3: A person is said to cause a thing to move by removing an obstacle which prevented it from moving or by separating it from any other thing, as well as by actually moving it.
Explanation 4: A person, who by any means causes an animal to move, is said to move that animal, and to move everything which, in consequence of the motion so caused, is moved by that animal.
Explanation 5: The consent mentioned in this section may be express or implied, and may be given either by the person in possession, or by any person having for that purpose authority either express or implied.
Illustrations
- (a) A cuts down a tree on Z's ground, with the intention of dishonestly taking the tree out of Z's possession without Z's consent. Here, as soon as A has severed the tree in order to such taking, he has committed theft.
- (b) A puts a bait for dogs in his pocket, and thus induces Z's dog to follow it. Here, if A's intention be dishonestly to take the dog out of Z's possession without Z's consent, A has committed theft as soon as Z's dog has begun to follow A.
- (c) A meets a bullock carrying a box of treasure. He drives the bullock in a certain direction, in order that he may dishonestly take the treasure. As soon as the bullock begins to move, A has committed theft of the treasure.
- (d) A being Z's servant, and entrusted by Z with the care of Z's plate, dishonestly runs away with the plate, without Z's consent. A has committed theft.
- (e) Z, going on a journey, entrusts his plate to A, the keeper of a warehouse, till Z shall return. A carries the plate to a goldsmith and sells it. Here the plate was not in Z's possession. It could not therefore be taken out of Z's possession, and A has not committed theft, though he may have committed criminal breach of trust.
- (f) A finds a ring belonging to Z on a table in the house which Z occupies. Here the ring is in Z's possession, and if A dishonestly removes it, A commits theft.
- (g) A finds a ring lying on the highroad, not in the possession of any person. A, by taking it, commits no theft, though he may commit criminal misappropriation of property.
- (h) A sees a ring belonging to Z lying on a table in Z's house. Not venturing to misappropriate the ring immediately for fear of search and detection, A hides the ring in a place where it is highly improbable that it will ever be found by Z, with the intention of taking the ring from the hiding place and selling it when the loss is forgotten. Here A, at the time of first moving the ring, commits theft.
- (i) A delivers his watch to Z, a jeweler, to be regulated. Z carries it to his shop. A, not owing to the jeweler any debt for which the jeweler might lawfully detain the watch as a security, enters the shop openly, takes his watch by force out of Z's hand, and carries it away. Here A, though he may have committed criminal trespass and assault, has not committed theft, in as much as what he did was not done dishonestly.
- (j) If A owes money to Z for repairing the watch, and if Z retains the watch lawfully as a security for the debt, and A takes the watch out of Z's possession, with the intention of depriving Z of the property as a security for his debt, he commits theft, in as much as he takes it dishonestly.
- (k) Again, if A, having pawned his watch to Z, takes it out of Z's possession without Z's consent, not having paid what he borrowed on the watch, he commits theft, though the watch is his own property in as much as he takes it dishonestly.
- (l) A takes an article belonging to Z out of Z's possession without Z's consent, with the intention of keeping it until he obtains money from Z as a reward for its restoration. Here A takes dishonestly; A has therefore committed theft.
- (m) A, being on friendly terms with Z, goes into Z's library in Z's absence, and takes away a book without Z's express consent for the purpose merely of reading it, and with the intention of returning it. Here, it is probable that A may have conceived that he had Z's implied consent to use Z's book. If this was A's impression, A has not committed theft.
- (n) A asks charity from Z's wife. She gives A money, food and clothes, which A knows to belong to Z her husband. Here it is probable that A may conceive that Z's wife is authorised to give away alms. If this was A's impression, A has not committed theft.
- (o) A is the paramour of Z's wife. She gives a valuable property, which A knows to belong to her husband Z, and to be such property as she has no authority from Z to give. If A takes the property dishonestly, he commits theft.
- (p) A, in good faith, believing property belonging to Z to be A's own property, takes that property out of Z's possession. Here, as A does not take dishonestly, he does not commit theft.
Section (2) - Punishment for Theft
Whoever commits theft shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both and in case of second or subsequent conviction of any person under this section, he shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to five years and with fine:
Provided that in cases of theft where the value of the stolen property is less than five thousand rupees, and a person is convicted for the first time, shall upon return of the value of property or restoration of the stolen property, shall be punished with community service.
Simplified Act
Section (1) - Theft
If someone takes any movable property from another person without their permission and intends to do so dishonestly, they are committing theft.
Explanations
Explanation 1: If something is attached to the ground, it is not considered movable property and cannot be stolen. But once it is detached from the ground, it can be stolen.
Explanation 2: If the act of moving something also involves detaching it from the ground, it can be considered theft.
Explanation 3: A person can be said to move something not only by physically moving it but also by removing any obstacle that prevents it from moving or by separating it from something else.
Explanation 4: If a person causes an animal to move, they are considered to have moved the animal and anything that moves because of the animal.
Explanation 5: The permission mentioned in this section can be either clearly given or implied, and it can be given by the person who owns the property or someone authorized to give permission.
Illustrations
- (a) If A cuts down a tree on Z's land intending to take it without Z's permission, A commits theft as soon as the tree is cut down.
- (b) If A uses bait to make Z's dog follow him with the intention of taking the dog without Z's permission, A commits theft as soon as the dog starts following him.
- (c) If A drives a bullock carrying a box of treasure in a certain direction to take the treasure dishonestly, A commits theft as soon as the bullock starts moving.
- (d) If A, who is Z's servant, runs away with Z's plate without Z's permission, A commits theft.
- (e) If Z leaves his plate with A, a warehouse keeper, and A sells it, A has not committed theft because the plate was not in Z's possession, but A may have committed another crime.
- (f) If A finds Z's ring on a table in Z's house and takes it dishonestly, A commits theft.
- (g) If A finds a ring on the road that does not belong to anyone, taking it is not theft, but it may be another crime.
- (h) If A hides Z's ring with the intention of taking it later, A commits theft as soon as he moves the ring.
- (i) If A takes his watch back from Z, a jeweler, by force without owing Z any money, A has not committed theft because he did not act dishonestly.
- (j) If A owes Z money for repairing the watch and takes it back without paying, A commits theft.
- (k) If A takes back his pawned watch from Z without paying the loan, A commits theft.
- (l) If A takes Z's property intending to keep it until Z pays a reward, A commits theft.
- (m) If A takes a book from Z's library to read and intends to return it, A may not have committed theft if he believed he had Z's implied permission.
- (n) If A takes money, food, or clothes from Z's wife, believing she is allowed to give them, A has not committed theft.
- (o) If A takes valuable property from Z's wife knowing she is not allowed to give it, A commits theft.
- (p) If A takes Z's property believing it is his own, A does not commit theft because he did not act dishonestly.
Section (2) - Punishment for Theft
Anyone who commits theft can be punished with up to three years in prison, a fine, or both. If someone is convicted of theft again, they will be punished with at least one year in prison, which can extend to five years, and a fine.
Provided that if the stolen property is worth less than five thousand rupees and it is the person's first conviction, they can be punished with community service if they return the property or its value.
Explanation using examples
Example 1:
Ravi sees a bicycle parked outside a shop. He waits until the owner, Suresh, goes inside the shop and then quickly rides away on the bicycle without Suresh's consent. Here, Ravi has committed theft as he intended to take the bicycle dishonestly out of Suresh's possession without his consent.
Example 2:
Meena finds a gold necklace lying on the ground in a crowded market. She picks it up and decides to keep it for herself, knowing that it belongs to someone else. Since the necklace was not in anyone's possession at the time she found it, Meena has not committed theft but may be guilty of criminal misappropriation of property.
Example 3:
Arjun, a gardener, is hired to work in Mr. Sharma's garden. One day, Arjun cuts down a valuable tree in the garden and takes it home without Mr. Sharma's permission. Here, Arjun has committed theft as he severed the tree from the earth with the intention of taking it dishonestly out of Mr. Sharma's possession.
Example 4:
Priya, a domestic helper, is entrusted with the care of her employer's jewelry. One day, she takes the jewelry and runs away without her employer's consent. Priya has committed theft as she dishonestly took the jewelry out of her employer's possession.
Example 5:
Rahul sees a stray dog on the street and lures it with food to follow him home. If Rahul's intention was to take the dog out of its owner's possession without the owner's consent, he has committed theft as soon as the dog started following him.
Example 6:
Vikram, a warehouse keeper, is given a valuable painting by Mr. Kapoor to keep until he returns from a trip. Vikram sells the painting to a third party without Mr. Kapoor's consent. Here, Vikram has not committed theft as the painting was not in Mr. Kapoor's possession, but he may have committed criminal breach of trust.
Example 7:
Anita sees a ring on a table in her friend's house. She hides the ring with the intention of taking it later when her friend forgets about it. Anita has committed theft as soon as she moved the ring with the intention of taking it dishonestly.
Example 8:
Sanjay owes money to a jeweler for repairing his watch. When the jeweler retains the watch as security for the debt, Sanjay forcibly takes the watch back without paying the debt. Sanjay has committed theft as he took the watch dishonestly out of the jeweler's possession.
Example 9:
Ramesh, believing a piece of land to be his own, takes crops from it without realizing it actually belongs to his neighbor. Since Ramesh did not act dishonestly, he has not committed theft.
Example 10:
Sunita, a friend of Neha, borrows a book from Neha's library without asking for explicit permission, intending to return it after reading. If Sunita believed she had Neha's implied consent, she has not committed theft.
