A public servant was charged under Section 409 IPC. Facts constituting the charge also made out an offence under Section 420 IPC but he was not charged for this offence.......

Question: A public servant was charged under Section 409 IPC. Facts constituting the charge also made out an offence under Section 420 IPC but he was not charged for this offence. Can he be convicted for this offence? Support your answer with decided cases.

Find the answer to the mains question of IPC only on Legal Bites. [A public servant was charged under Section 409 IPC. Facts constituting the charge also made out an offence under Section 420 IPC but he was not charged for this offence. Can he be convicted for this offence? Support your answer with decided cases.]

Answer

In Indian Criminal Law, when a person is charged with a specific offence, they can be convicted if the evidence and facts presented during the trial establish the elements of that offence, even if they were not initially charged with it. This is known as "conviction for a lesser offence." In the given scenario, where a public servant was charged under Section 409 IPC, but the facts also constitute an offence under Section 420 IPC, the public servant can be convicted for the offence under Section 420 IPC if the evidence proves its elements beyond a reasonable doubt.

The principle governing this situation is derived from Section 222 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in India, which states:

"When a person is charged with an offence and facts are proved which reduce it to a minor offence, he may be convicted of the minor offence, although he is not charged with it."

In Tarkeshwar Sahu v. State of Bihar, 2006 8 SCC 560, the Hon’ble Supreme Court after relying upon the decision of this Court in Lakhjit Singh v. State of Punjab, 1994 Supp 1 SCC 173 and Shamnsaheb M. Multtani v. State Of Karnataka, 2001 2 SCC 577 held that if the offence committed is clearly covered and has the ingredients of a minor offence, in that event, the Court is empowered to convict the person under a minor offence by invoking the provisions of Section 222 CrPC.