IPC Project
IPC Project
On the topic of
500071415
INDEX
CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER-1: INTRODUCTION
The topic that I have selected falls under the category of defenses. In certain instances due to
circumstances or other reasons that are beyond an individual’s control he indulges in criminal
behavior. This also forms an integral part of the law because as it is imperative to punish the
guilty, not even a single innocent man must be convicted. The defenses have been specially
formulated so that they are able to meet every circumstance. Though a defense does not rescue
an individual from liability totally, it does reduce the severity of his punishment for he can be
convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder rather than murder. Intoxication is one
such defense.
I will start with dealing with the origin of the concept, meaning the legal stand on the issue as it
has been. As the basic doctrine has been laid down in the British cases, I will deal with the
British aspect first. The project will be divided in two sections, one that will deal with the British
perspective and the other that will deal with the Indian perspective. Intoxication is codified in
section 85 and 86 of the Indian penal code.
What is drunkenness?
Drunkenness is a consequence of drinking intoxicating liquors to such an extent as to alter the
normal condition of an individual and significantly reduce his capacity for rational action and
conduct. It can be asserted as a defense in civil and criminal actions in which the state of mind of
the defendant is an essential element to be established in order to obtain legal relief.
HYPOTHESIS:
Involuntary intoxication can act as a defense under Indian Penal Code but in cases of Voluntary
intoxication mens rea is also taken into consideration.
OBJECTIVES:
• To study various landmark cases held in Supreme Court of India and house of lords
Research Methodology
The quality and value of research depends upon the proper and particular
methodology adopted for the completion of research work. Looking at the
vastness of the research topic - historical, doctrinal legal research methodology
has been adopted. To make an authenticated study of the research topic “Scope
of Intoxication under Section 85 and 86” enormous amount of study material is
required. The relevant information and data necessary for its completion has
been gathered from secondary sources available in the books, journals,
periodicals, research articles and proceedings of the seminars, websites.
Keeping in view the need of present research, various cases filed in the
Supreme Court as well as in the High Court’s on the issue of and the
judgments therein have also been used as a source of information. The
judgments pronounced in the cases have been analyzed in detail and used as a
means of diagnosis to know the basic lacunae arising in the way of providing
the remedy in case of Review of Judgment.
The laws in the early nineteenth century concerning intoxication were very stringent. In fact,
according to a statement made by Earl of Birkenhead, voluntary intoxication was considered an
aggravation rather than a defence. If a person was consuming alcohol, knowing fully well that it
would impair his ability to think clearly, then he will be situated in no better condition than a
sober man in the judgment of his criminal conduct.
Thankfully, the rule has been mercifully relaxed and a person’s punishment, though cannot be
eradicated completely, can be reduced in severity. Further illustrations can be provided with the
help of case studies.
SECTION 85
Act of a person incapable of judgment by reason of intoxication caused against his will:
Nothing is an offence which is done by a person who at the time of doing it is by reason of
intoxication, incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong,
or contrary to law ; provided that the things which intoxicated him was administered to him
without his knowledge or against his will.1
A man in order to claim exemption from criminal liability under Section 85, IPC 1860 on the
ground of involuntary drunkenness must establish that he was (i) incapable of knowing the
nature of the act, or (ii) that he was doing what was either wrong or contrary to law, and (iii) that
the thing which intoxicated him was given to him without his knowledge or against his will.
SYNOPSIS
1. Scope
4. Implications of section 85
7. State of Intoxication
1. Scope of Section 85
Where the accused could not show that he was under the influence of liquor at the time of the
commission of the offence, the benefit of Section 85 was not given.3
3 Sohan Manjhi v. State, AIR 1970 Pat 303 : 170 Cri Lj 1245 (DB)
Drunkenness may in extreme cases result in delirium, tremors or insanity- whether temporary or
permanent and if it is does so, the offender will be held not guilty.8
Where the accused caused death in state of voluntary intoxication he was held liable under
Section 302 and not under Section 304. Part II.11 Where the accused consumed liquor scolded his
wife, set fire to her, and when she extinguished the fire, set fire to her again resulting in her
death, the offence fell under section 302 and not under Section 304, Part-II.12
Voluntary drunkenness is no defence under Section 85,m but it may be taken into consideration
while awarding punishment.13 Where the abnormal behavior of the deceased was due to
excessive drunkenness, the protection under Section 85 held not available.14
The taking of drink could not itself be excuse of commission of a crime and it was not a defence
that a man’s mind was so affected by drink that he more readily gave way to passion or that he
would not have acted as he did had he been sober nor will drunkenness be defence in case of
strict liability, since if an honest and reasonable mistake by sober person cannot afford a defence,
a mistake while drunk cannot do so.16
4. Implications of Section 85
Merely because the accused claimed to be drunk at the relevant point of time could never be
taken an excuse for his brutual and diabolic acts and the plea of drunkenness did not in any way
dilute not because of what is provided in section 85, IPC but because one after the another five
were taken and that too of four young children.17
5. Intoxication- Proving of
The normal presumption is that a man intends the normal consequences of his acts. In a case
where the defence is of drinking it is for the accused to lead evidence to rebut such presumption
by giving evidence of his drunkenness and proving the degree of his intoxication to show that
Where the evidence of the prosecutor corroborated by the evidence of her husband that the
accused came all of a sudden under influence of liquor and grabbed her and raped her and there
was no evidence that the accused was under intoxication and he was unable to know the nature
of his act, the accused was not held entitled to the benefit of section 85 of IPC.19
7. State of Intoxication
What is the state of intoxication reffered to in Section 85 and Section 86 of the Penal Code?
There are of course many varying degrees of drunkenness which culminate in a state in which
the person becomes incapable of knowing the nature of any act. The word “state of intoxication”
in Section 86 can only mean intoxication which renders a person incapable of knowing the
nature of the act in question or that he is doing what is either wrong or contrary to law when he
commits. It would be extremely dangerous to extend the protection under Section 86, Penal Code
to persons who commit serious offence under the influence of liquor in varying stages and
differentiate culpability in their favour as opposed to similar offence by perfectly sober persons.-
In re : Balaswami, AIR 1953 Mad 827. Voluntary drunkenness is no excuse for the commission
of offence.
Drunkenness makes no difference in the knowledge with which a man is charged and a man
knew what the natural consequences of his acts where it must be presumed to have intended to
have caused them. Section 85 of the Indian Penal Code deals with the question of knowledge
possessed by an accused person at the time he commits the offence and leaves quite open the
question of intention. There must be some material on the record to show that the accused was
under the influence of liquor at the time he commited the offence. So, no question of
SECTION 86
In cases where an act done is not an offence unless done with a particular knowledge or intent, a
person who does the act in a state of intoxication shall be liable to be dealt with as if he had the
same knowledge as he would have had if he had not been intoxicated, unless the thing which
intoxicated him was administered to him without his knowledge or against his will. 22
Synopsis
1. Scope
Scope
Section 86 is an exception to Section 85. Section 86 does not permit intoxication of a lesser
degree.23
But so far as intent or intention is concerned, the same must be gathered from the attending
general circumstances of the case paying due regards to the degree of intoxication. Was the man
besides his mind altogether for the time being? If so it would not be possible to fix him with the
requisite intention. But if he had not gone so deep in drinking, and from the facts it could be
found that he knew what he was about to do, the court can apply the rule that a man is presumed
The onus of establishing the plea under Section 86 lies on the accused.27
Where the accused was heavily drunk and was incapable of forming the requisite intent which
could bring his act within the ambit of Section 302, in view of the provisions of Section 86, the
accused could be imputed with the knowledge of his act.28
Where in case of rape, there was no evidence showing any signs of drunkenness or alcohol
having been consumed by accused at the time of committing offence of rape, benefit of Section
could not be extended to him. His defence plea was rejected and he was convicted for offence of
rape under Section 376, IPC. 29
There is no evidence available on the record as to quantum of alcohol consumed by the appellant
except the observation of the witnesses that he was under the influence of liquor. No one stated
that he not in senses and has lost self- control. It was held that it is in evidence that immediately
after the incident he walked the distance to the house of a witness and concealed the weapon of
offence and wearing apparels. It could not as such be said that there was no intention on the part
of appellant and he was out of his senses on account of intoxication.30
There is always certain guilty knowledge or intention, which forms part of the definition of many
offences; this section deals specially to find solutions for such cases. A person who is intoxicated
is considered to have the same level of knowledge as a person who is sober. Cases have to be
differently judged because some focus on the intent of the individual while others focus on the
knowledge that the individual possesses. It must be borne in mind that though an intoxicated
person is credited with the same knowledge as a similar sane person, this presumption cannot be
made for his intent.
Drunkenness does not make a very big difference to the knowledge with which a man is credited,
and a very popular argument based on the above stated notion is that since a person will have
knowledge of his deed, he also has the intention to commit it. However, this does not apply to a
case where an individual is so drunk that he is unable to from the required intent. In case of R v
Kingston, the case that I have already elucidated, the principle that we follow as well as was laid
down that if an individual was able to form the required intent even though he was intoxicated,
he will be convicted.
So far as the question of knowledge is concerned, the court must adopt the same stand as given
This leads on to the complex concept of recklessness. Certain crimes, such as attempted murder,
can only be committed intentionally; others may be committed recklessly. The distinction is
important. A distinction must also exist between recklessness and negligence, so that the law can
punish reckless wrongdoing, but, apart from certain crimes, it can exempt negligent wrongdoing
from criminal liability.
The type of recklessness recognised by the majority of the House of Lords is termed ‘Caldwell-
type’ recklessness following their Lordships’ decision in R v Caldwell [1982]. An individual is
Caldwell-type reckless with regard to a particular risk that attends his actions if the risk is
obvious to an ordinary prudent person who has not given thought to the possibility of there being
In India as well, the law that has been followed till date has its foundation in the British law. The
first categorical difference is that in case of British law, the defence of intoxication is not
codified under any specific section, while under the Indian law it has been clearly codified in
sections eighty-five and eighty-six of the Indian Penal Code.
In Indian law, the clause that the drug has to be administered against the will of the individual is
given much more importance than it is under the British law. Also, the dichotomy between
specific intent and basic intent is given a lot of importance in case of British law. The severity of
the punishment an individual can be given is reduced due to this.
In Indian law as well this exception is applicable, as well as an exception in case the individual’s
mind is diseased. This portion of our law is very similar to the British law; as a matter of fact the
cases that have been cited as authority are also British.
The second factor that can be considered in the case is that in the Indian criminal law, the
difference has been made very clear between the intention and knowledge of an individual. Even
in British law, the specific intent and the basic intent dichotomy has been elaborated, but they
have not given an exclusive difference between the knowledge and intent.
The English law has evolved over a series of cases and it has come a long way from the rigid law
that it was earlier. In the early nineteenth century, alcohol would never have been able to serve as
a defence. Rather it would have had a reverse effect and this shows us how much the law has
progressed in this aspect over a period of time.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Articles
Ewan Paton, “Reformulating the Intoxication Rules: The Law Commission’s Report”, [1995]
Crim. L.R. 387.
Graham Virgo, “The Law Commission Consultation Paper on Intoxication and Criminal
Liability”, [1993] Crim. L.R. 420.