Blackstone had once
thoughtfully said,
“Infancy is a defect of understanding and
infants under the age of discretion ought not to be punished by any criminal
prosecution whatsoever.”
To adopt the above
statement legally, the law makers made various provisions. Section 82 and 83 of
the Indian Penal Code gives immunity from criminal liability to children up to the
age of 12 years. However, the age discretion differs from country to country.
For illustration: In
Argentina a minor under the age of 16 years is exempted from criminal responsibility and
in France a child under the age of 13 is not punishable, while in Denmark and
Sweden the age bar is set at 15 years.[i]
Indian Penal Code’s-
Ø Section
82: Act of a child under
seven years of age.— Nothing is an offence which is done by a child under
seven years of age.
Children below 7
years under this section are termed as Doli
Incapax and get complete immunity from criminal liability due to general
proposition that an infant below a certain age is incapable of distinguishing
between right and wrong and so no criminal responsibility should be hooked for
his/her deeds.
Children under this
age cannot form necessary intention to constitute a crime.
In Marsh
v. Loader, (1863) 14 CBNS 535, a child was
caught stealing a piece of wood from the premises of the defendant but was
discharged on the basis that he was under 7 years of age. [ii]
Ø Section
83: Act of a child above seven and under twelve
of immature understanding.— Nothing is an offence which is done by a child
above seven years of age and under twelve, who has not attained sufficient
maturity of understanding to judge of the nature and consequences of his
conduct on that occasion.
Whilst this section of
the code gives qualified immunity from criminal responsibility for children
from 7 to 12 years of the age, the immunity conferred depends on their maturity
of understanding during the commission of the crime. The maturity of his
understanding can be inferred from the nature of the act, subsequent conducts
and behavior.
[i] Law Commission of India, 42nd
Report, 1971, P.87-89
[ii] http://lawtimesjournal.in/offence-by-minor/#:~:text=Section%2083%3A%20Act%20of%20a,his%20conduct%20on%20that%20occasion.
*Books referred “Indian Penal Code by K.D. Gaur
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