For our studentsIndian Penal Code

Crime:

A ‘crime’ can be said to be an act of commission or omission, contrary to law, tending to prejudice of a community, for which punishment can be inflicted as a result of judicial proceedings taken in the name of State.

The concept of Crime is essentially concerned with the social order. A crime is a wrong which shakes the societal order.
Therefore, crime can be defined both as legal and Sociological.

Crime and Morality:

Both crime and morality aim at maintaining social order and there are category of wrongs towards which law and morality react with common hatred, That does not mean that all immoral acts are crime. Law and morality are intimately related to each other and are generally bases on moral principles of the society.

All moral wrongs are no crime.
Example : A person drowning in the swimming pool, ingratitude etc.

Therefore Actus Reus is the consequences of wrongful Act.

Examples :

1. Pushing somebody from the top floor due to which he died.

Here, conduct is pushing him down from the floor and consequence is his death. The consequence of human conduct is Actus Reus.

Mens Rea covers wide range of mental state and conditions, the existence of which would give a criminal hue to the Actus Reus.

Mens Rea as such is not punishable. If Mens Rea does not extend to any part of the act, there will be no guilty mind behind the Act.

Example:
A imagines whole day to kill B. While B were working together in a factory, accidently a piece of brick fells from the hand of A, directly hitting B due which he dies. Here Actus Reus and Mens Rea though present are not present at the same time.

Mens Rea is guilty state of mind which accompanies a particular act done by the Accused while committing an offence and state of which has been prohibited by law.

Differences between TORT, CRIME AND CONTRACT

Concepts:

• Culpability v. Liability

  Culpability is derived from the word culpabilis which means something which is blame-worthy. Culpability means act done which might be punishable or not.
  By liability it means to be legally responsible and there is an obligation to go under punishment according to the statute.

• Illegal", "Legally bound to do"

  The word "illegal" is applicable to everything which is an offence or which is prohibited by law, or which furnishes ground for a civil action; and a person is said to be "legally bound to do" whatever it is illegal in him to omit.

  Something which is prohibited by law is considered to be illegal and when a person has a legal duty to do something and if he omits to do the same , it means he was legally bound to do an act. His act would amount to illegal omission
  Example : A police officer, a life guard.
  In every part of this Code, except where a contrary intention appears from the context, words which refer to acts done extend also to illegal omissions.

• Injury

  The word "injury" denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person, in body, mind, reputation or property.
  By word ‘caused’ means adopted to cause harm to body, mind , reputation or to property. For example : crushing somebody’s watch by the shoe.

• Voluntarily

  A person is said to cause an effect "voluntarily" when he causes it by means whereby he intended to cause it, or by means which, at the time of employing those means, he knew or had reason to believe to be likely to cause it.
  
  Intention , knowledge and reason to believe are state of mind which van be gathered from the surrounding circumstances. The test of reasonable man should be used here.

• Intention

  Intention means to have in mind a fixed purpose to reach a desired objective, so it indicates a man is consciously shaping his conduct so as to bring about a certain event. Thus, intention is the purpose or design with which an act is done.

  Intention is the desire to cause a particular result. A test of reasonable man should be used here too. Previous conduct and subsequent conduct should also be examined.

• Motive

  Motive though not the sine qua non. For bringing the offence home to the accused, is relevant on the question of intention. Motive is something which prompts a man to form an intention. It is an emotion which impels a man to do a particular act. It is the reason behind the desired act.
  Motive is the purpose behind committing of an offence.

  Example: A Killed B to with knife in order to inherit his property.
  Here to inherent property was the motive and killing A was the intention.

• Knowledge

  Knowledge is a bare state of conscious awareness of certain facts in which human mind might itself remain supine or inactive whereas intention connotes a conscious a conscious state in which mental faculties are roused into activity and summed up into action for the deliberate purpose of being directed towards a particular and specific end which the human mind conceives and perceives before itself.
  Therefore, Knowledge is the awareness and consciousness about the particular act.‘
  Example: Setting fire in an inhabited house in large town for the purpose of facilitating robbery.

• Dishonestly

  Whoever does anything with the intention of causing wrongful gain to one person or wrongful loss to another person, is said to do that thing "dishonestly".
  A person is said to have wrongfully gain when he either retains or acquires property wrongfully.
  Wrongfully loss means a person has been either kept out of the property or is deprived of the property. The gain or loss must be material and not remote.

• Fraudulently

  A person is said to do a thing fraudulently if he does that thing with intent to defraud but not otherwise.
  Here by intent to defraud means intent to deceive and cause a person to act or omit to act as a result of that deception played on him.
  Example: Getting admission by producing forged certificate or one with fabricated signature of the headmaster.