Civil and Criminal Law and Justice · Chapter 9
Study notes aligned to the official NEB syllabus.
Offences against the person are crimes that attack a human being's body or life. The Muluki Penal Code 2074 treats them as some of the most serious wrongs. This is because they strike at the most basic thing a person has. That is the safety of their own body.
Hurt (कुटपिट) means causing bodily pain, injury or harm to another person. The Code does not treat all hurt the same way. It grades the offence by how serious the injury is. This follows the idea of proportionality. Proportionality means the punishment should match the harm done. Ordinary hurt, also called simple hurt, covers everyday bodily harm. A slap, or a blow that leaves a bruise, is simple hurt. Grievous hurt (गम्भीर चोट) covers serious injury. Examples are a fracture, or the loss of an organ, or the loss of a sense like sight or hearing. Permanent disfigurement counts as grievous hurt. So does an injury that puts the victim's life in danger. The punishment goes up as the harm gets worse. It goes up even more when the hurt is caused with a weapon or by poison. It is also heavier when the hurt is aimed at a weak or helpless person. Here is a simple example. Suppose X pushes Y during a quarrel. Y gets a minor bruise. This is simple hurt. Now suppose X strikes Y on the head with an iron rod and breaks Y's skull. This injury is grievous hurt. The sentence is much heavier. This is because the harm is lasting and could have killed Y. The main idea is always the same. The more lasting and dangerous the injury, the heavier the sentence.
Homicide (ज्यान सम्बन्धी कसुर) means causing the death of a human being. Here the Code looks closely at the state of mind of the offender. This matters because the blame is very different depending on the intention. Intentional killing is called murder. Murder is done with a plan or a clear intention to kill. It is the most serious offence. It carries the heaviest punishment. In Nepal that punishment is imprisonment for life. The death penalty has been abolished, so there is no execution. Some killings are treated as less grave than planned murder. One is a killing done in the heat of the moment, with no plan beforehand. Another is a killing caused by carelessness or recklessness. A special case is the killing of an infant. This is called infanticide (बाल हत्या). These are treated as separate kinds of homicide. They are generally less grave than planned murder. Here are two examples. Suppose A plans for days to kill B and then poisons him. This is intentional murder. Now suppose A is provoked in a sudden fight. A strikes B once, and B unexpectedly dies. The law treats this as a lesser form of homicide. This is because the killing was not planned. In the same way, a driver who kills a pedestrian by careless driving commits homicide by negligence. This is not murder. Some grounds can reduce the blame or even remove it fully. One is private defence, which means protecting yourself. Another is the absence of the required intention to kill.
Property offences protect a person's ownership and lawful possession of things. They all share one common thread. That thread is dishonest intention (बेइमानीपूर्ण मनसाय). Theft (चोरी) means dishonestly taking another person's movable property. It is done without that person's consent. The thief intends to keep the owner away from their own property. Here is an example. Suppose a person quietly removes a mobile phone from someone's bag in a crowded bus. That is theft. Robbery is theft plus force, or the threat of force. For example, a thief snatches the phone. Then he pushes or threatens the owner so they cannot resist. Dacoity (डकैती) is robbery committed by a group or band of persons. It is a more serious offence. The Penal Code punishes it severely. This is because it joins unlawful taking with group violence or threats. It puts both property and personal safety in danger. Here is an example. Suppose a group of five armed persons breaks into a house at night. They threaten the family. Then they carry away cash and ornaments. This is dacoity. It is far more serious than a single person's theft. Cheating or fraud (ठगी) means deceiving another person with a false statement. The aim is to dishonestly get property or some wrongful gain. For example, a person sells land he does not own. He does this by showing forged papers to a buyer. In all of these offences, dishonest intention is the common thread. The punishment goes up with the value involved. It also goes up with the amount of violence or the breach of trust.
Documents are the backbone of civil and commercial life. People trust deeds, contracts, certificates and records every day. They rely on them in good faith. So the Code makes it a crime to corrupt a document and make it unreliable. The main offences here are a few. Forgery (कीर्ते) means making a false document, or a false part of a document, in order to deceive. Another offence is changing or tampering with a genuine document in a dishonest way. A third is using a forged document as if it were real. Related offences include preparing or holding tools used for forgery. An example makes the harm clear. Suppose a person forges a land ownership certificate (लालपुर्जा). Then he uses it to sell a plot he does not own to an innocent buyer. Both acts are offences. The forgery is one offence. Using the forged document is another. The harm falls on a buyer who trusted the paper. Other examples are similar. Changing the figures on a genuine cheque is a document offence. So is making a fake academic certificate. These acts are punished for a clear reason. A false deed, contract, certificate or record can harm many people. Many people may rely on it, and all of them can be hurt.
Some crimes do not injure one victim alone. They injure society or the state itself. Offences against public morality include sexual offences. Examples are rape and sexual assault (यौन दुर्व्यवहार, जबरजस्ती करणी). The Code treats these as grave offences against the person and against their dignity. This group also includes public indecency and human trafficking (मानव बेचबिखन). These crimes are punished severely. The punishment is even heavier when the victim is a child or is otherwise vulnerable. This is because these crimes attack both the individual and the moral order of society. Offences against the state include treason. Treason means acts that threaten the sovereignty, integrity or security of Nepal. This group also covers offences against public peace and order. Examples are rioting and unlawful assembly. For instance, an armed attempt to overthrow the lawful government is an offence against the state. So is organising a violent riot that endangers public order. The harm here reaches the whole community, not just one person. So these offences generally carry severe punishment.