Attempt

The offence of attempt is an incomplete crime in that liability is incurred even though the
act has not reached its intended result.
- When a person tries to commit the offence or is at the trial stage of the crime.
Liability for attempt is dealt with in three different ways:
- The offence and attempt are punished under the same provision and carry identical
punishments. E.g: Sec. 121.
- The offence and attempt are provided under different provisions and carry different
punishments.
- The punishment for attempt carries a lesser sentence.
- E.g: Sec. 302 for murder and Sec. 307 for attempted murder.
- Where there is no specific provision, there is a general provision (Sec. 511) providing
for the punishment of attempts.
Four stages in every crime:
- Intention
- Preparation
- Attempt
- Actual commission
Intention:
- Merely forming an intention to commit a crime is not an attempt and is not
punishable under the law.
- There must be some overt act directed towards the actual commission of the crime.
Preparation:
- Preparation for and an attempt to commit an offence must be distinguished.
- The preparation for the commission of a crime is not a criminal act and is not
punishable under the law.
- Preparation only will not attract criminal liability.
- Arjan Singh v PP: Under the offence of extortion and attempted extortion, the
offender must have done the act with the intention of placing another person in fear
of an injury. The fact that only a letter was found was insufficient as there was no
evidence of any attempt to send it by any means to the victim. The mere act of
writing and retaining a letter is not an attempt to commit extortion but, at most, a
preparatory step towards the commission of the offence.

- Tah Beng Chye v PP: The accused took the complainant to some bushes, and
removed his shorts and inner pants. He then made her take off her trousers leaving
her in knickers which she refused to take off. A passer-by came and she shouted for
help. The accused was convicted of attempted rape. On appeal, the court held that
the evidence was insufficient to constitute an attempt to commit rape.
 - Harishchandra v State of Maharashtra: The accused was spending the night with the
complainant and her family. He entered the kitchen where she and her children
were sleeping and made advances to the woman. He stripped himself below the
waist and attempted to remove her blouse and shorts. The complainant shouted for
help and was rescued by her neighbours.
Held: The accused was in the state of preparation and had not gone beyond the
stage of preparation, thus he could not be said to have attempted to commit rape.
Attempt:
- Actus reus of attempt
- Sec. 511: There must be an attempt and, in such attempt, any act towards
the commission of the offence.
- Abhayanand Mishra v State of Bihar: Whether a certain act amounts to an
attempt is a question of fact dependent on the nature of offence and the
steps necessary to commit it.
- In this case, the moment the appellant despatched the false
documents to the university he had entered the realm of attempting
to commit the offence of cheating.
- Houghton v Smith: There must be an overt act intended to form and does
form part of a series of acts which would constitute the actual commission of
the offence if it were not interrupted.
- State of Maharashtra v Mohd Yakub: To constitute attempt there must be
- An intention to commit a particular offence
- Some act must have been done towards the commission of the crime
- Such act must be proximate to the intended result
- The act must be indicative or suggestive of the intention
- The act must be more than a preparatory act and close to
committing the offence
- R v Francis Cassidy: There was no attempt to commit murder where the
accused pointed an uncapped gun believing it to be capped at his superior
officer with the intention of killing him as the act committed must be capable
of causing death in the natural and ordinary course of events.

- Mens rea of attempt

- Sec. 511 is silent as to the mens rea of attempt and merely states Whoever
attempts to commit an offence
- Om Parkash v State of Punjab: The expression in Sec. 511 can only
mean that whoever intends to do a certain act with the intent or
knowledge necessary for the commission of that offence
- State of Maharashtra v Mohd Yakub: The mens rea required to render a
person liable for an attempt to commit a crime is the specific intention to
commit the complete offence.