About this topic
Not every act that damages property is a crime. Damage to property becomes a crime when it amounts to the offence of mischief under Section 324 of the B.N.S. The three problems below are solved at the end, after the law is set out.
Three problems to decide:
- The tenant: a tenant who is forced out of a flat pours wet cement into its bathroom drains on his last night.
- The transporter: a transporter pushes his own insured truck into a gorge, planning to claim the money from the insurance company.
- The delivery rider: a delivery rider takes a sharp turn in a narrow lane and scratches a parked car he never saw.
Property is damaged in all three. The question is whether each one is a crime.
Definition of mischief: Section 324(1), B.N.S.
Mischief is defined in Section 324(1) of the B.N.S., 2023:
"Whoever with intent to cause, or knowing that he is likely to cause, wrongful loss or damage to the public or to any person, causes the destruction of any property, or any such change in any property or in the situation thereof as destroys or diminishes its value or utility, or affects it injuriously, commits mischief."
The definition asks three questions, and every mischief problem should be answered by taking them in this order:
- The property: what happened to the property?
- The sufferer: who was meant to suffer?
- The mind: what was in the mind of the accused?
First question: what happened to the property
Three ways property can be affected
- Destruction of the property: for example, a phone smashed with a hammer.
- A change in the property: for example, sugar poured into a car's fuel tank, which ruins the engine without leaving a mark.
- A change in the situation of the property: for example, a boat untied so that the river carries it away.
The required effect on the property
Whichever of these happens, the result must be one of the following:
- the value or utility of the property is destroyed; or
- its value or utility is diminished (reduced); or
- the property is otherwise affected injuriously.
"Utility" simply means usefulness.
Section 324(1) speaks of "any property". The target of mischief can therefore be immovable property such as a field or a house, not just movable things.
Second question: who was meant to suffer
The wrongful loss or damage may be aimed at:
- one person; or
- the public, as when someone smashes the streetlights of a road.
Wrongful loss: Section 2(37), B.N.S.
The heart of this question is wrongful loss. Section 2(37) defines wrongful loss as:
"the loss by unlawful means of property to which the person losing it is legally entitled".
The accused need not gain anything at all. Mischief turns on the wrongful loss or damage caused to the public or to any person, not on any gain to the offender.
Two Explanations to Section 324 widen this question.
Explanation 1: loss need not be aimed at the owner
"It is not essential to the offence of mischief that the offender should intend to cause loss or damage to the owner of the property injured or destroyed. It is sufficient if he intends to cause, or knows that he is likely to cause, wrongful loss or damage to any person by injuring any property, whether it belongs to that person or not."
So the person the accused aims at need not be the owner of the property that is injured.
Explanation 2: mischief to one's own or jointly owned property
"Mischief may be committed by an act affecting property belonging to the person who commits the act, or to that person and others jointly."
So a person can commit mischief even on property that is wholly or partly their own.
Two sisters, Zoya and Neha, jointly own a car. Zoya smashes its windscreen to hurt Neha. Zoya cannot plead that the car is half hers: under Explanation 2, mischief can be committed on property owned jointly with others.
Third question: the mind of the accused
The mental element is the real gatekeeper of this offence. The accused must either:
- intend to cause wrongful loss or damage; or
- know that his act is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage.
| Intention | Knowledge |
|---|---|
| Intention is aim. | Knowledge is awareness. |
| The accused wants to cause wrongful loss or damage. | The accused may not want the loss, but knows his act is likely to cause it. |
Either intention or knowledge is enough for mischief.
A factory owner releases chemical waste into a canal used by farmers. He may not want to ruin their crops, but he knows the crops are likely to suffer. That knowledge is enough for mischief.
Purely accidental damage, with neither intention nor knowledge, is not mischief. It may lead to a civil claim, but not to criminal liability.
Punishment: Section 324(2) to (6), B.N.S.
Sub-sections (2) to (6) of Section 324 fix the punishment. "Imprisonment of either description" means simple or rigorous imprisonment.
| Sub-section | Situation | Punishment |
|---|---|---|
| 324(2) | Mischief (simple form) | Imprisonment of either description up to 6 months, or fine, or both |
| 324(3) | Mischief causing loss or damage to any property, including the property of Government or Local Authority | Imprisonment of either description up to 1 year, or fine, or both |
| 324(4) | Mischief causing loss or damage of Rs. 20,000 and more but less than Rs. 1 lakh | Imprisonment of either description up to 2 years, or fine, or both |
| 324(5) | Mischief causing loss or damage of Rs. 1 lakh or upwards | Imprisonment of either description up to 5 years, or fine, or both |
| 324(6) | Mischief committed after making preparation for causing death, hurt or wrongful restraint, or fear of death, hurt or wrongful restraint, to any person | Imprisonment of either description up to 5 years, and liable to fine |
Text of the punishment provisions
- Sub-section (2): "Whoever commits mischief shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both."
- Sub-section (3): "Whoever commits mischief and thereby causes loss or damage to any property including the property of Government or Local Authority shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both."
- Sub-section (4): "Whoever commits mischief and thereby causes loss or damage to the amount of twenty thousand rupees and more but less than one lakh rupees shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both."
- Sub-section (5): "Whoever commits mischief and thereby causes loss or damage to the amount of one lakh rupees or upwards, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both."
- Sub-section (6): "Whoever commits mischief, having made preparation for causing to any person death, or hurt, or wrongful restraint, or fear of death, or of hurt, or of wrongful restraint, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine."
Under sub-sections (2) to (5) fine is an alternative ("or with fine, or with both"), but under sub-section (6) the offender "shall also be liable to fine" in addition to imprisonment.
Graver forms of mischief
Graver forms of mischief, such as mischief to animals or mischief by fire, are punished separately in Sections 325 to 328 of the B.N.S.
Solving the three problems
| Problem | Mischief? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| The tenant who pours wet cement into the bathroom drains | Yes | The cement destroyed the utility of the drains (the property), and he aimed at his landlord (the sufferer, with intention). |
| The transporter who pushes his own insured truck into a gorge | Yes | The truck was his own, but Explanation 2 covers a person's own property, and Explanation 1 makes it enough that he aimed at the insurer rather than the owner. |
| The delivery rider who scratches a parked car he never saw | No | He had neither intention nor knowledge. He may owe the repair cost (a civil liability), but he is not a criminal. |
Quick revision
- Mischief is defined in Section 324(1) of the B.N.S.
- In every mischief problem, ask three things in order: the property, the sufferer, and the mind.
- Property: destruction, change in the property, or change in its situation, which destroys or diminishes its value or utility (usefulness) or affects it injuriously; "any property" includes immovable property.
- Sufferer: wrongful loss or damage to the public or to any person; wrongful loss is defined in Section 2(37); the accused need not gain anything.
- Explanation 1: the loss need not be intended to the owner of the property.
- Explanation 2: mischief can be committed on one's own property or property owned jointly with others.
- Mind: intention (aim) or knowledge (awareness) of likely wrongful loss or damage; purely accidental damage is not mischief, though it may give rise to a civil claim.
- Punishment: up to 6 months (324(2)); up to 1 year, including Government or Local Authority property (324(3)); up to 2 years for Rs. 20,000 to below Rs. 1 lakh (324(4)); up to 5 years for Rs. 1 lakh or more (324(5)); up to 5 years and fine where preparation was made to cause death, hurt or wrongful restraint, or fear of them (324(6)).
- Graver forms, such as mischief to animals or by fire: Sections 325 to 328.
