Theft... Robbery... Dacoity and allied offenses

We often read in newspapers and watch on TV news, as also in TV serials and movies, words like theft.. robbery and dacoity. Though all three have some common elements in them, from the legal point of view, all these three criminal activities are different. We will discuss at length about these differences.

Theft :

Let us first talk about Theft. This is very often referred to as stealing. Though poets talk about stealing one’s heart, it remains only in the realm of romance.

In legal terms, the offence of theft should have the following essential elements, viz :

1)The person committing the theft should have a dishonest intention

2) It should be of a movable property

3) The property should be out of the possession of the owner

4) It should not have the owner’s consent

5) The offender should move that property in order to take it away

This offence of Theft is covered under Section 378 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and carries a jail term of upto 3 years.

So to put it in a nutshell, theft is when someone steals a movable property out of your possession with a malafide intention of stealing it from you (physical removal of an object).

Robbery :

Talking about Robbery, it is an aggravated form of theft. Here the robber causes or attempts to cause bodily harm or even death, to carry away the looted property. It can also involve wrongful restraint or putting in the fear of instant death.

Robbery should essentially have the following elements :

1) The offence happens in front of the victim with his or her knowledge

2) The victim must have fear of instant death, or of instant hurt or of instant wrongful restrain

3) The offender should have done these acts in the process of carrying away or attempting to carry away the property

IPC Section 390 deals with this offence of Robbery and carries a jail term of upto 10 years.

Dacoity :

The offence of Dacoity is a kind of Robbery, but should involve atleast 5 or more than 5 offenders, committing or attempting to commit an act of robbery together.

Dacoity should essentially contain the following elements :

1) The number of accused persons should not be less than 5

2) All the accused persons must commit or attempt to commit robbery

3) All such persons should act conjointly

Dacoity is covered under section 391 IPC and carries a punishment of Death or imprisonment upto 10 years.

Some allied offenses : While on this topic, we will just have a fleeting glance at some other allied offenses like Burglary, Extortion, Embezzlement, Blackmail, Encroachment and Usurpation.

Burglary - Is a kind of theft or robbery, where the offender illegally enters a closed premises - residential or commercial - by force or by breaking open, with the malafide intention of committing a theft.

Extortion - Generally done by gangsters to obtain something, especially money, by putting the fear of hurt or death to self or someone close.

Embezzlement - Misappropriation of funds placed in one’s trust or belonging to the employer.

Blackmail - It is demanding money or any other benefits from someone, in return for not revealing compromising or damaging information about them. This generally involves threat or emotional manipulation.

Encroachment - It is generally done on another’s property or privacy. It is to illegally advance gradually beyond usual or acceptable limits.

Usurpation - To take possession of someone’s position of power or importance, or their property illegally by force or deceit.

To conclude we can say that all these offenses have the common thread of dishonestly acquiring money or other benefits from others by illegal means.