What is SECTION 4 IPC

Description:

The provisions of this Code apply also to any offence committed by:

1. Any citizen of India in any place without and beyond India;
2. Any person on any ship or aircraft registered in India wherever it may be.
3. Any person in any place without and beyond India committing offence targeting a computer resource located in India.

This section applicable to both, Any Indian citizen committing outside India and person committing against India.

Explanations

1. In this section the word “offence” includes every act committed outside India which, if committed in India would be punishable under this Code

Illustrations

1. A, who is a citizen of India, commits a murder in Uganda. He can be tried and convicted of murder in any place in India in which he may be found.

Section 4 IPC is the extended version of section 3. The sole basis of liability that lies with a person under section 4 Indian Penal Code is either that of citizenship or of the territory.
The section is equally applicable to the Indian citizen who commits any offence outside the boundaries or territory of India and also on the person, who commits it on the Indian territory.

So if a person commits any crime related to Indian law or comes under any Indian law will be termed as offence. Also the second part of section 4 says that, any citizen of India if found guilty of offence on any aircraft or ship that is registered under Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. Will be held for proceedings.

This section clearly talks about the extent and applicability of the act if the offences are committed outside the territorial limits of India. Clause 1 clearly makes any Indian citizen guilty of the offence that he has committed outside India and such person shall be punished with the prescribed punishment under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

According to section 4(3)- any computer resource targeted in India by any person shall be traible.

Section 4 does not apply where the offender is not a citizen of India.- Central Bank of India Ltd. V. Ram Narain,(1955)1 SCR 697.

So provisions of this section will not be applicable to a person, if at the time of the commission of the offence he was not the citizen of India and he has acquired the status of Indian citizen after his migration to India.

For a better understanding of this sec 4 IPC, we can here give an example. Suppose, if a person ‘A’ is an Indian citizen and commits murder in any other country (Like In United States), in that case, he is liable to be tried and convicted in lieu of the offence committed in any place in India wherever he may be found.