General Explanations
IPC Section 38 - Persons concerned in criminal act may be guilty of different o ffences
Important notice
As per new criminal laws effective from 1 July 2024, IPC has been replaced by Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). This page is useful for older matters, references and legal research.
Simple language explanation
IPC Section 38 deals with persons concerned in criminal act may be guilty of different o ffences.
Full official legal text
38. Persons concerned in criminal act may be guilty of different o ffences. Where several
persons are engaged or concerned in the commission of a criminal act, they may be guilty of different
offences by means of that act.
Illustration
A attacks Z under such circumstances of grave provocation that his killing of Z would be only culpable homicide not
amounting to murder. B, having ill -will towards Z and intending to kill him, and not having been subject to the provocation,
assists A in killing Z. Here, though A and B are both engaged in causing Z's death, B is guilty of mu rder, and A is guilty only of
culpable homicide.
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