OFFENCES RELATING TO PROPERTY

6.Receiving stolen property.

This is the subject-matter of section 411 of the code which prescribes that the receiver of stolen property shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extent to 3 years or with fine or with both. From this it is clear that the receiver \of stolen property is punished in the same way as the person who actually steals the property vide section 379.

The essential requirements for convicting a person under this section are mainly two, one is dishonest receipt or retention of the stolen property and second is that he had knowledge at the time of receipt that the property was obtained in one of the ways as laid down in section 410

Section 412 deals with dishonestly receiving property in the commission of dacoity.

Section 413 lays down punishment for a person who habitually deals in stolen property;

Section 414 punishes the person who assists in concealment of the stolen property.

7. Cheating

This is a very common offence and is generally heard of in the society. It is dealt with in section 412 to 423. Out of this section 416 deals with cheating by impersonation which is punished vide section 419. Section 417 punishes for the offence of cheating and the last section 420 which is very commonly known deals with the offence of cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property. The punishment in this section is prescribed as imprisonment for either description for a term which may extend to seven years and also liable to fine.

The main ingredients of the offence of cheating are

(1) Description of any person;

(2) (a) fraudulently of dishonestly inducing that person;
        (i) to deliver any property to any person; or
        (ii) to consent that any person shall retain any property; or

(b) intentionally inducing that person to do or omit to do anything which he would not do or omit if he was not so deceive, and which act or omission caused or is likely to cause damage or harm to the person in body, mind, reputation or property.

8. Fraudulent deeds and disposition of property.

This subject is covered in sections 421 to 424 and the subject in regarding benami transaction in fraud of creditors, that is, the offence consisted, in dishonest disposition of property with intent to cause wrongful loss to creditors. The offence may be against movable or immovable property. This is given in section 421 of the code. Sections 422,423 and 424 deal in the same way with an offence which defrauds creditors in different ways.

9. Mischief.

Ingredients of mischief as given in section 405 are as under ;

(1) Intention or knowledge of likelihood to cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or to any person;

(2) Causing destruction of property or any change in the same or in the situation;

(3) by such change the property must be destroyed or its value is diminished or its utility is marred. The punishments for this offence is inflicted vide section 426 and it is only punishment for 3 months or with fine or with both. Different types of mischievous are dealt in sections 427 to 440.

10. Criminal trespass.

Offences of this type are dealt in sections 441 to 460. The 3 essential heads of this offence are;

(1) Entry into the property which is in possession of other person without consent;

(2) if such entry is with permission then staying after the permission is withdrawn, that is , if the said entry was lawful in the beginning, but if one remains there unlawfully afterwards;

(3) The entry and remaining there unlawfully with the intention:

  (a) To commit offence;
  (b) To insult, annoy or intimidate the person who is in possession of the property.
This offence is defined in section 440 of the code. There are several types of trespass as house trespass, house breaking, and lurking house trespass.

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