420 is a very famous section of IPC. Changes were also made under this section by the government a few years ago. This section applies when an individual tries to deceive or incite another person to give away any valuable thing. If we talk about the period before the change, then in this section, only that thing was considered a fraud that you could touch with your hands. But when most of the things went online, changes were made in this section. Below we have described section 420 IPC in detail.
Table of Contents
Section 420 of IPC The With Example
Cheating and intentionally inducing to deliver up property, or seizing it comes under Section 420 of the IPC.
Example 1– A person named ‘A’ shows a piece of grass to a person named ‘B’ and tells him and assures him that it is a piece of gold. Believing the words of person ‘A’, the other person ‘B’ buys that piece of grass. ‘When a person ‘B’ realizes after some time that this is not a piece of gold but a piece of grass.
The person ‘B’ understands that he has been cheated. Person ‘A’ has cheated person ‘B’ twice. Once by telling a lie that a piece of grass is a piece of gold. The second time is when person ‘A’ forces person ‘B’ to give money. This is a fraud and it is a crime. Under section 420, the accused can be sentenced to 7 years imprisonment or fined
Example 2– As you must be aware, nowadays we all get so many fraud calls. Sometimes someone says on the call that you have won the lottery, sometimes someone says that your credit card has been blocked, sometimes someone says that I have transferred money to you by mistake, so please transfer my money back to me. All these frauds come under section 420.
Also read: What Is Section 376 IPC: Is It Bailable Or Not?
Elements of Section 420 of IPC
All the points we have written below should match. The only crime will come under section 420.
- Whatever assurance the accused has given the victim must be false.
- Whatever assurance the accused gave to the victim, he should know that he is lying.
- The intention or knowledge of wrongdoing.
Also read: What Is Section 376 IPC: Is It Bailable Or Not?
Details on Punishment under Section 420 of IPC
If you study law, then you must know that the severity of the crime and other things also matter a lot in deciding the punishment for a crime. So we have brought for you some situations which are seen before sentencing the accused.
The harshness of the violation: This is the most important point which helps in deciding the punishment. Yes, if the person who has been subjected to the crime has suffered a huge loss, then the person who has committed the crime has a higher chance of getting a punishment for a long time.
Repeat Criminals: The most brutal punishment is given to those criminals who have already served a sentence for a similar crime. This should happen only then the criminal will think 100 times before committing a crime next time
Circumstances: Before giving punishment, the court looks at the age of the person who committed the crime, whether he is in good health or not, and also takes into consideration many other personal things before giving punishment.
