Theories and Kinds of Punishment

A man steals a mobile phone on the Harbour line. One person says he must go to jail so others learn the lesson. Another says jail will turn him into a worse criminal and he should be made to work for the community instead. A third says the victim must get the phone value back first. All three are sincere, and all three are using a theory of punishment. Which one does the law follow? The honest answer is: parts of all of them, and this topic shows where each one appears in the Sanhita.

In two minutes

Punishment is justified by five theories (retributive, deterrent, preventive, reformative and compensatory), and Chapter II of the BNS (ss.4 to 13, the old IPC Chapter III, ss.53 to 75) lists six kinds: death, imprisonment for life, imprisonment (rigorous or simple), forfeiture of property, fine and community service.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Law of Crimes on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.