{"id":457,"date":"2021-06-03T14:24:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T08:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/?p=457"},"modified":"2026-10-25T19:31:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T14:01:03","slug":"legal-maxim-of-the-day-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Mens Rea Meaning: The Guilty Mind Maxim (Actus Non Facit Reum Nisi Mens Sit Rea) in Indian Criminal Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Mens rea<\/strong> is Latin for <strong>&#8220;guilty mind&#8221;<\/strong>. It is the mental element of a crime: the intention, knowledge or other state of mind with which a person does the forbidden act. The idea comes from the Latin maxim <strong><em>actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea<\/em><\/strong>, which in plain English means &#8220;an act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty&#8221;. The Supreme Court uses the same pair of terms: in <em>Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra<\/em> (1964) it spoke of &#8220;the guilty act (actus reus)&#8221; and &#8220;the ordinary guilty intention (mens rea)&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indian statutes rarely use the Latin phrase. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) writes the required state of mind into most offences with words such as &#8220;intentionally&#8221;, &#8220;knowingly&#8221;, &#8220;dishonestly&#8221;, &#8220;fraudulently&#8221;, &#8220;voluntarily&#8221; and &#8220;reason to believe&#8221;, and Section 2 BNS defines several of them. Chapter III (&#8220;General Exceptions&#8221;) lists cases where there is no offence, such as a mistake of fact, an accident, a child under seven or unsoundness of mind. Where a statute is silent, the Supreme Court starts from a presumption that mens rea is needed: &#8220;absolute liability is not to be lightly presumed but has to be clearly established&#8221; (<em>State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George<\/em>, 1964).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"clf-keyfacts\" style=\"border:1px solid #d9d2c5;background:#faf7f2;border-radius:6px;padding:14px 18px;margin:0 0 24px\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700\">Mens rea at a glance<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\">\n<li><strong>Meaning:<\/strong> Latin for &#8220;guilty mind&#8221;: the mental element of a crime, as opposed to actus reus, the guilty act.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Full maxim:<\/strong> <em>actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea<\/em>: the act alone does not make a person guilty unless the mind is guilty too.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the BNS:<\/strong> most offences state their own mental element; Section 2 defines &#8220;dishonestly&#8221; (2(7)), &#8220;fraudulently&#8221; (2(9)), &#8220;reason to believe&#8221; (2(29)) and &#8220;voluntarily&#8221; (2(33)) (formerly Sections 24, 25, 26 and 39 IPC).<\/li>\n<li><strong>No guilty mind, no offence:<\/strong> mistake of fact (Sections 14 and 17), accident (Section 18), child under seven (Section 20), unsoundness of mind (Section 22) and involuntary intoxication (Section 23) BNS.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Silent statutes:<\/strong> mens rea is presumed, but the statute&#8217;s words and object can exclude it (<em>Mayer Hans George<\/em>, 1964: gold smuggling under the foreign exchange law).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Presumed guilty mind:<\/strong> Section 35 NDPS Act and Section 30 POCSO Act presume the &#8220;culpable mental state&#8221;; the accused must disprove it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Companies:<\/strong> a company &#8220;may be convicted of common law as well as statutory offences including those requiring mens rea&#8221; (<em>Iridium India Telecom v. Motorola<\/em>, 2010).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hindi:<\/strong> the official Hindi BNS uses \u092c\u0947\u0908\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0940 (dishonestly), \u0915\u092a\u091f\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915 (fraudulently), \u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923 (reason to believe) and \u0938\u094d\u0935\u0947\u091a\u094d\u091b\u092f\u093e (voluntarily).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Reviewed and updated by Century Law Firm, Delhi \u2013 October 2026. Statutory references are to the Acts as in force on that date. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is quoted from India Code (as on 6 October 2025) and its official Hindi text on India Code, the NDPS Act, the Essential Commodities Act (as on 15 April 2026) and the POCSO Act (as on 1 July 2026) from India Code, and the Supreme Court judgments from the Court&#8217;s own copies on api.sci.gov.in.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does mens rea mean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mens rea means a guilty mind. Translated word by word, <em>mens<\/em> means &#8220;mind&#8221; and <em>rea<\/em> means &#8220;guilty&#8221;, so &#8220;rea&#8221; in this phrase simply means guilty. In criminal law it is the state of mind the law requires before an act can be punished as a crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A crime usually has two parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Actus reus<\/strong> \u2013 the guilty act or illegal omission, such as taking another person&#8217;s property.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mens rea<\/strong> \u2013 the guilty mind that goes with it, such as an intention to take the property dishonestly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In <em>Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra<\/em> (judgment of 19 August 1964) the Supreme Court described the selling of an obscene book as &#8220;the second part of the guilty act (actus reus)&#8221; and held that for it &#8220;the ordinary guilty intention (mens rea) will be required before the offence can be said to be complete&#8221;. For the other half of the pair, see our post on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-17\/\">actus reus<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The full maxim: actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The full Latin maxim is <strong>actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea<\/strong>. Word for word: <em>actus<\/em> (the act) <em>non facit<\/em> (does not make) <em>reum<\/em> (a person guilty) <em>nisi<\/em> (unless) <em>mens<\/em> (the mind) <em>sit rea<\/em> (is guilty). In plain English: doing a forbidden act is not enough for a conviction; the person must also have had the state of mind the law requires. (This is the firm&#8217;s translation of the Latin words; the maxim itself is not written into any Indian statute.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mens rea, mensrea, mens ria or means rea?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The correct spelling is <strong>mens rea<\/strong>, two words. &#8220;Mensrea&#8221;, &#8220;mens ria&#8221;, &#8220;mensria&#8221; and &#8220;means rea&#8221; are common misspellings of the same Latin term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How the BNS builds mens rea into each offence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The BNS does not have a general section saying &#8220;mens rea is required&#8221;. Instead, most offences are written with their own mental element. Theft needs an intention &#8220;to take dishonestly&#8221; (Section 303(1) BNS, formerly Section 378 IPC); cheating needs that the accused &#8220;fraudulently or dishonestly&#8221; induced the person deceived, or &#8220;intentionally&#8221; induced him to act (Section 318(1) BNS, formerly Section 415 IPC); receiving stolen property needs that the accused acted dishonestly, &#8220;knowing or having reason to believe the same to be stolen property&#8221; (Section 317(2) BNS, formerly Section 411 IPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several of these words are defined in Section 2 BNS; in the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) the same definitions were in separate sections of Chapter II (&#8220;General Explanations&#8221;). &#8220;Intentionally&#8221; and &#8220;knowingly&#8221; are not defined; their meaning comes from the words of each section, such as acting &#8220;with the intention of thereby causing hurt&#8221; or &#8220;with the knowledge that he is likely thereby to cause hurt&#8221; (Section 115(1) BNS, formerly Section 321 IPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Word<\/th><th>BNS definition (quoted)<\/th><th>Old IPC section<\/th><th>Official Hindi term<\/th><th>Example offence<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Dishonestly<\/td><td>&#8220;doing anything with the intention of causing wrongful gain to one person or wrongful loss to another person&#8221; \u2013 Section 2(7)<\/td><td>Section 24<\/td><td>\u092c\u0947\u0908\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0940<\/td><td>Theft (Section 303), criminal breach of trust (Section 316)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Fraudulently<\/td><td>&#8220;doing anything with the intention to defraud but not otherwise&#8221; \u2013 Section 2(9)<\/td><td>Section 25<\/td><td>\u0915\u092a\u091f\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915<\/td><td>Cheating (Section 318)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Reason to believe<\/td><td>a person has it &#8220;if he has sufficient cause to believe that thing but not otherwise&#8221; \u2013 Section 2(29)<\/td><td>Section 26<\/td><td>\u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923<\/td><td>Receiving stolen property (Section 317(2))<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Voluntarily<\/td><td>causing an effect &#8220;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&#8221; \u2013 Section 2(33)<\/td><td>Section 39<\/td><td>\u0938\u094d\u0935\u0947\u091a\u094d\u091b\u092f\u093e<\/td><td>Voluntarily causing hurt (Section 115)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Good faith<\/td><td>&#8220;Nothing is said to be done or believed in \u201cgood faith\u201d which is done or believed without due care and attention&#8221; \u2013 Section 2(11)<\/td><td>Section 52<\/td><td>\u0938\u0926\u094d\u092d\u093e\u0935\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915<\/td><td>Used in the general exceptions (Sections 14 and 17)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Voluntarily&#8221; covers knowledge as well as intention<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Voluntarily&#8221; in the BNS covers knowledge as well as intention. Its illustration: a person who sets fire to an inhabited house at night to help a robbery, and thereby causes a death, &#8220;may not have intended to cause death; and may even be sorry that death has been caused by his act; yet, if he knew that he was likely to cause death, he has caused death voluntarily&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Intention, knowledge and negligence: the homicide sections<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sections on causing death grade the crime by the state of mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Culpable homicide (Section 100 BNS, formerly Section 299 IPC):<\/strong> causing death &#8220;with the intention of causing death, or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death&#8221;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Murder (Section 101 BNS, formerly Section 300 IPC):<\/strong> culpable homicide becomes murder in the cases listed, for example where the act is done &#8220;with the intention of causing death&#8221; (clause (a)), or where the person &#8220;knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must, in all probability, cause death&#8221; and acts &#8220;without any excuse for incurring the risk&#8221; (clause (d)). It is punished under Section 103(1) BNS (formerly Section 302 IPC).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 105 BNS, formerly Section 304 IPC):<\/strong> the punishment is heavier where the act is done with intention than where it is done only &#8220;with the knowledge that it is likely to cause death, but without any intention to cause death&#8221;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Causing death by negligence (Section 106(1) BNS, formerly Section 304A IPC):<\/strong> a &#8220;rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Illustration (c) to Section 100: A shoots at a fowl to steal it and kills B, hidden behind a bush, not knowing he was there; A &#8220;was not guilty of culpable homicide, as he did not intend to kill B, or to cause death by doing an act that he knew was likely to cause death&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"clf-figure clf-ig\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;padding:14px 12px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:6px;background:#fff\">\n<style>.entry-content .clf-ig,.entry-content .clf-ig *{box-sizing:border-box}.entry-content .clf-ig{max-width:100%;overflow:hidden}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-title{display:block;font-weight:700;color:#1f2d3d;font-size:1em;line-height:1.35;margin:0 0 4px;text-align:center;overflow-wrap:anywhere}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-sub{display:block;font-size:.82em;line-height:1.4;color:#555;margin:0 0 12px;text-align:center;overflow-wrap:anywhere}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-grid{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(min(160px,100%),1fr));gap:10px;margin:0 0 10px}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-grid2{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(min(240px,100%),1fr));gap:10px;margin:0 0 10px}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-grid3{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(min(200px,100%),1fr));gap:10px;margin:0 0 10px}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-box{min-width:0;background:#faf7f2;border:1.5px solid #b9a98c;border-radius:8px;padding:10px 12px;font-size:.88em;line-height:1.45;color:#222;overflow-wrap:anywhere;word-break:normal;hyphens:auto;margin:0}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-h{display:block;font-weight:700;color:#1f2d3d;margin:0 0 3px;font-size:1.02em;overflow-wrap:anywhere}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-s{display:block;color:#6b5f4b;font-size:.86em;margin:4px 0 0}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-red{background:#fdeeee;border-color:#c98585}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-green{background:#eef6ee;border-color:#86a986}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-blue{background:#eef3fa;border-color:#8aa3c4}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-dark{background:#1f2d3d;border-color:#1f2d3d;color:#fff;text-align:center}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-dark .ig-h{color:#fff;font-size:1.15em}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-arrow{display:block;text-align:center;color:#8a7a5c;font-size:1.3em;line-height:1;margin:0 0 10px}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-label{display:block;text-align:center;font-weight:700;color:#1f2d3d;font-size:.9em;margin:0 0 6px;overflow-wrap:anywhere}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-step{display:inline-block;min-width:1.6em;padding:0 .35em;margin:0 .35em 0 0;border-radius:1em;background:#1f2d3d;color:#fff;font-size:.8em;text-align:center;line-height:1.6em}.entry-content .clf-ig ul.ig-list{margin:0;padding:0 0 0 1.1em;list-style:disc}.entry-content .clf-ig ul.ig-list li{margin:0 0 4px;padding:0;font-size:inherit;line-height:1.45}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-note{display:block;font-size:.8em;line-height:1.4;color:#555;margin:4px 0 0}.entry-content .clf-ig .ig-cap{margin:10px 0 0;font-size:13px;color:#555;overflow-wrap:anywhere}<\/style><span class=\"ig-title\">Actus reus + mens rea = crime: how the BNS shows the guilty mind<\/span>\n<span class=\"ig-sub\">Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea<\/span>\n<div class=\"ig-grid\">\n<div class=\"ig-box ig-blue\"><span class=\"ig-h\"><span class=\"ig-step\">1<\/span>Guilty act<\/span>The act or illegal omission the section describes, such as moving property or causing death.<\/div>\n<div class=\"ig-box ig-blue\"><span class=\"ig-h\"><span class=\"ig-step\">2<\/span>Guilty mind<\/span>The mental word in the same section: intentionally, knowingly, dishonestly, fraudulently, voluntarily, reason to believe.<\/div>\n<div class=\"ig-box ig-blue\"><span class=\"ig-h\"><span class=\"ig-step\">3<\/span>No exception applies<\/span>Every offence is read subject to the General Exceptions in Chapter III (Section 3(1) BNS).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<span class=\"ig-arrow\">\u2193<\/span>\n<div class=\"ig-grid2\">\n<div class=\"ig-box ig-green\"><span class=\"ig-h\">Both proved<\/span>The offence is made out, for example theft under Section 303 BNS.<\/div>\n<div class=\"ig-box ig-red\"><span class=\"ig-h\">Guilty mind missing<\/span>No offence: mistake of fact (Sections 14, 17), accident (Section 18), child under seven (Section 20), unsoundness of mind (Section 22).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ig-grid2\">\n<div class=\"ig-box\"><span class=\"ig-h\">Presumed guilty mind<\/span>The accused must disprove it (Section 35 NDPS Act, Section 30 POCSO Act).<\/div>\n<div class=\"ig-box\"><span class=\"ig-h\">Strict liability<\/span>A statute may exclude mens rea by its words and object (Supreme Court, 1964).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"ig-cap\">Prepared by Century Law Firm from the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Sections 2, 3, 14\u201322 and 303), the NDPS Act, 1985 (Section 35), the POCSO Act, 2012 (Section 30) and State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George (Supreme Court, 1964), official texts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">General exceptions: when the guilty mind is missing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Section 3(1) BNS (formerly Section 6 IPC) says that &#8220;every definition of an offence, every penal provision, and every Illustration&#8221; is to be understood subject to the exceptions in the Chapter entitled &#8220;General Exceptions&#8221;, &#8220;though those exceptions are not repeated&#8221; in each section. Several of these exceptions are, in substance, cases where the person did not have a guilty mind. The BNS kept the IPC wording; the firm&#8217;s comparison data records &#8220;No change&#8221; for each section below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Exception<\/th><th>BNS section (old IPC)<\/th><th>What the section says<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Mistake of fact \u2013 bound by law<\/td><td>Section 14 (Section 76 IPC)<\/td><td>No offence by a person who, &#8220;by reason of a mistake of fact and not by reason of a mistake of law in good faith believes himself to be, bound by law to do it&#8221;.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Mistake of fact \u2013 justified by law<\/td><td>Section 17 (Section 79 IPC)<\/td><td>Same rule where the person believes himself &#8220;justified by law&#8221;.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Accident<\/td><td>Section 18 (Section 80 IPC)<\/td><td>No offence if done &#8220;by accident or misfortune, and without any criminal intention or knowledge in the doing of a lawful act in a lawful manner by lawful means and with proper care and caution&#8221;.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Child under seven<\/td><td>Section 20 (Section 82 IPC)<\/td><td>&#8220;Nothing is an offence which is done by a child under seven years of age.&#8221;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Child of seven to twelve<\/td><td>Section 21 (Section 83 IPC)<\/td><td>No offence by a child above seven and under twelve &#8220;who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge of the nature and consequences of his conduct on that occasion&#8221;.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Unsoundness of mind<\/td><td>Section 22 (Section 84 IPC)<\/td><td>No offence by a person who, at the time, &#8220;by reason of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong or contrary to law&#8221;.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Involuntary intoxication<\/td><td>Section 23 (Section 85 IPC)<\/td><td>Same test as Section 22, if the intoxicant &#8220;was administered to him without his knowledge or against his will&#8221;.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Voluntary intoxication<\/td><td>Section 24 (Section 86 IPC)<\/td><td>Where an offence needs a particular knowledge or intent, a person who became intoxicated voluntarily is treated as having the knowledge he would have had if sober.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mistake of fact helps; mistake of law does not<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sections 14 and 17 protect only a mistake of fact made in good faith, &#8220;and not by reason of a mistake of law&#8221;. Illustration (b) to Section 14: an officer of a Court, ordered to arrest Y, &#8220;after due enquiry, believing Z to be Y, arrests Z&#8221; \u2013 he has committed no offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does every offence need mens rea? Strict liability and the presumption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not every offence. Most BNS offences state their own mental element, so the prosecution must prove it. Where a statute says nothing about the state of mind, the Supreme Court starts with a presumption that mens rea is required and asks whether the statute excludes it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George (1964)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A German passenger flying from Zurich with 34 kilos of gold concealed on his person, to be delivered in Manila, was searched on board at Bombay. He was charged under Sections 8(1) and 23(1-A) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, read with a Reserve Bank notification published in the Gazette on 24 November 1962; the prosecution conceded that he was not aware of it. The High Court acquitted him; the Supreme Court restored the conviction by a majority of two to one (order of 8 May 1964, reasons given in the judgment of 24 August 1964), though it reduced the sentence to the period already undergone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The majority (Ayyangar J., for himself and Mudholkar J.) accepted that &#8220;absolute liability is not to be lightly presumed but has to be clearly established&#8221;, and asked whether the presumption was &#8220;overborne by the language of the enactment, read in the light of the objects and purposes of the Act&#8221;. It held that the Act&#8217;s effectiveness &#8220;as an instrument for the prevention of smuggling would be entirely frustrated&#8221; if knowledge of the law had to be proved. The act itself must still be conscious: if &#8220;a packet of gold was slipped into, his pocket&#8221; without his knowledge, the person would not &#8220;bring&#8221; the gold into India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Subba Rao J. dissented. His often-quoted statement of the rule \u2013 &#8220;there is a presumption that mens rea is an essential ingredient of a statutory offence; but this may be rebutted by the express words of a statute creating the offence or by necessary implication&#8221; \u2013 is therefore a dissenting opinion, though the majority accepted the same starting presumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strict liability for one element: Ranjit D. Udeshi (1964)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A statute can also dispense with mens rea for one part of an offence only. In <em>Ranjit D. Udeshi<\/em>, a five-Judge Bench held that Section 292 IPC (the obscenity offence, now Section 294 BNS) as it then stood &#8220;does not make knowledge of obscenity an ingredient of the offence&#8221;, unlike sections that &#8220;open with the words &#8220;whoever knowingly or negligently etc.&#8221;&#8221;. It said that the difficulty of proving such knowledge &#8220;has made the liability strict&#8221;, but that for the selling or keeping for sale &#8220;the ordinary guilty intention (mens rea) will be required&#8221;. The bookseller&#8217;s appeal was dismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Statutes that presume the guilty mind<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some statutes keep the mental element but presume it. Section 35(1) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 provides that in any prosecution for an offence &#8220;which requires a culpable mental state of the accused, the court shall presume the existence of such mental state but it shall be a defence for the accused to prove the fact that he had no such mental state&#8221;. &#8220;Culpable mental state&#8221; includes &#8220;intention motive, knowledge of a fact and belief in, or reason to believe, a fact&#8221; (Explanation), and under Section 35(2) a fact is proved only when the court believes it to exist &#8220;beyond a reasonable doubt and not merely when its existence is established by a preponderance of probability&#8221;. Almost the same wording appears in Section 10C of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (inserted with effect from 22 June 1974) and in Section 30 of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/pocso-act-2012-sections-punishments-bail-and-latest-supreme-court-judgments\/\">POCSO Act, 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Civil penalties are different<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For monetary penalties for breach of a regulatory statute, the Supreme Court has held: &#8220;mens rea is not an essential ingredient for contravention of the provisions of a civil act. In our view, the penalty is attracted as soon as contravention of the statutory obligations as contemplated by the Act is established&#8221; (<em>Chairman, SEBI v. Shriram Mutual Fund<\/em>, judgment of 23 May 2006).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can a company have mens rea?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. Under Section 2(26) BNS (formerly Section 11 IPC), &#8220;person&#8221; &#8220;includes any company or association or body of persons, whether incorporated or not&#8221;. In <em>Iridium India Telecom Ltd. v. Motorola Incorporated<\/em> (judgment of 20 October 2010) the Supreme Court rejected a High Court view that a company could not have the intention needed for cheating, and held that &#8220;a corporation is virtually in the same position as any individual and may be convicted of common law as well as statutory offences including those requiring mens rea&#8221;. Summing up English and Canadian law, it noted that &#8220;Mens rea is attributed to corporations on the principle of \u2018alter ego\u2019 of the company&#8221;, and it held that the High Court&#8217;s conclusion that the company &#8220;could not have the necessary mens rea is clearly erroneous&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reverse does not follow automatically. In <em>Sunil Bharti Mittal v. Central Bureau of Investigation<\/em> (three Judges, judgment of 9 January 2015) the Court said that &#8220;it is the cardinal principle of criminal jurisprudence that there is no vicarious liability unless the statute specifically provides so&#8221;. A director can be made an accused with the company &#8220;if there is sufficient evidence of his active role coupled with criminal intent&#8221;, or where a statute creates vicarious liability, such as Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How is mens rea proved?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Usually by inference from the circumstances. In <em>Ranjit D. Udeshi<\/em> the Supreme Court said: &#8220;In criminal prosecution mens rea must necessarily be proved by circumstantial evidence alone unless the accused confesses&#8221;, and &#8220;The circumstances of the case will then determine the criminal intent and it will be a matter of a proper inference from them.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The BNS came into force on 1 July 2024 (except Section 106(2)); under Section 358 BNS, offences committed earlier are still dealt with under the IPC sections shown in brackets. Old and new sections can be matched with our free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-code-comparison-tool\/\">IPC to BNS comparison tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u092e\u0947\u0928\u094d\u0938 \u0930\u093f\u092f\u093e \u0915\u093e \u0905\u0930\u094d\u0925 \u2013 \u0939\u093f\u0902\u0926\u0940 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0938\u093e\u0930\u093e\u0902\u0936 (Mens Rea Meaning in Hindi)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u092e\u0947\u0928\u094d\u0938 \u0930\u093f\u092f\u093e (mens rea)<\/strong> \u0932\u0948\u091f\u093f\u0928 \u092d\u093e\u0937\u093e \u0915\u093e \u0936\u092c\u094d\u0926 \u0939\u0948, \u091c\u093f\u0938\u0915\u093e \u0905\u0930\u094d\u0925 \u0939\u0948 <strong>&#8220;\u0926\u094b\u0937\u0940 \u092e\u0928&#8221;<\/strong> \u092f\u093e \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u0915\u0930\u0924\u0947 \u0938\u092e\u092f \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0915\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0915\u0940 \u0906\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927\u093f\u0915 \u092e\u0928\u0903\u0938\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u093f\u0964 \u092f\u0939 \u092b\u0930\u094d\u092e \u0915\u093e \u0939\u093f\u0902\u0926\u0940 \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0935\u093e\u0926 \u0939\u0948; \u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924\u0940\u092f \u0928\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092f \u0938\u0902\u0939\u093f\u0924\u093e, 2023 \u0915\u0947 \u0906\u0927\u093f\u0915\u093e\u0930\u093f\u0915 \u0939\u093f\u0902\u0926\u0940 \u092a\u093e\u0920 \u092e\u0947\u0902 &#8220;\u092e\u0947\u0928\u094d\u0938 \u0930\u093f\u092f\u093e&#8221; \u0936\u092c\u094d\u0926 \u092a\u094d\u0930\u092f\u094b\u0917 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0939\u0941\u0906 \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u092a\u0942\u0930\u0940 \u0938\u0942\u0915\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0939\u0948 <em>actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea<\/em>, \u0905\u0930\u094d\u0925\u093e\u0924 \u0915\u0947\u0935\u0932 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f \u0915\u093f\u0938\u0940 \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0915\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0915\u094b \u0926\u094b\u0937\u0940 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u092c\u0928\u093e\u0924\u093e, \u091c\u092c \u0924\u0915 \u0915\u093f \u0909\u0938\u0915\u093e \u092e\u0928 \u092d\u0940 \u0926\u094b\u0937\u0940 \u0928 \u0939\u094b\u0964 \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u0915\u0947 \u0926\u094b \u092d\u093e\u0917 \u0939\u094b\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902: \u0926\u094b\u0937\u0940 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f (actus reus) \u0914\u0930 \u0926\u094b\u0937\u0940 \u092e\u0928 (mens rea)\u0964<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924\u0940\u092f \u0928\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092f \u0938\u0902\u0939\u093f\u0924\u093e \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092e\u0947\u0928\u094d\u0938 \u0930\u093f\u092f\u093e \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u0915\u094b\u0908 \u090f\u0915 \u0938\u093e\u092e\u093e\u0928\u094d\u092f \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0939\u0930 \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u0915\u0940 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0939\u0940 \u092c\u0924\u093e\u092f\u093e \u0917\u092f\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u0915\u093f \u0915\u093f\u0938 \u092e\u0928\u0903\u0938\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u093f \u0915\u0940 \u0906\u0935\u0936\u094d\u092f\u0915\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 2 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0915\u0941\u091b \u0936\u092c\u094d\u0926\u094b\u0902 \u0915\u0940 \u092a\u0930\u093f\u092d\u093e\u0937\u093e \u0926\u0940 \u0917\u0908 \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0906\u0927\u093f\u0915\u093e\u0930\u093f\u0915 \u0939\u093f\u0902\u0926\u0940 \u092a\u093e\u0920 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0938\u093e\u0930 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 2(7) \u092e\u0947\u0902 &#8220;\u092c\u0947\u0908\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0940&#8221; \u0938\u0947 \u0907\u0938 \u0906\u0936\u092f \u0938\u0947 \u0915\u094b\u0908 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f \u0915\u0930\u0928\u093e \u0905\u092d\u093f\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0947\u0924 \u0939\u0948 \u091c\u094b \u090f\u0915 \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0915\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0915\u094b \u0938\u0926\u094b\u0937 \u0905\u092d\u093f\u0932\u093e\u092d \u0915\u093e\u0930\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0947 \u092f\u093e \u0905\u0928\u094d\u092f \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0915\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0915\u094b \u0938\u0926\u094b\u0937 \u0939\u093e\u0928\u093f \u0915\u093e\u0930\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0947\u0964 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 2(9) \u092e\u0947\u0902 &#8220;\u0915\u092a\u091f\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915&#8221; \u0938\u0947 \u0915\u092a\u091f \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0906\u0936\u092f \u0938\u0947 \u0915\u094b\u0908 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f \u0915\u0930\u0928\u093e \u0905\u092d\u093f\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0947\u0924 \u0939\u0948, \u0905\u0928\u094d\u092f\u0925\u093e \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902\u0964 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 2(29) \u092e\u0947\u0902 &#8220;\u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923&#8221; \u0924\u092c \u092e\u093e\u0928\u093e \u091c\u093e\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u091c\u092c \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0915\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0909\u0938 \u092c\u093e\u0924 \u0915\u0947 \u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u092a\u0930\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092a\u094d\u0924 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923 \u0930\u0916\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 2(33) \u092e\u0947\u0902 &#8220;\u0938\u094d\u0935\u0947\u091a\u094d\u091b\u092f\u093e&#8221; \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0906\u0936\u092f \u0915\u0947 \u0938\u093e\u0925-\u0938\u093e\u0925 \u092f\u0939 \u091c\u093e\u0928\u0928\u093e \u092f\u093e \u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923 \u0930\u0916\u0928\u093e \u092d\u0940 \u0936\u093e\u092e\u093f\u0932 \u0939\u0948 \u0915\u093f \u092a\u0930\u093f\u0923\u093e\u092e \u0938\u0902\u092d\u093e\u0935\u094d\u092f \u0939\u0948\u0964<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u0909\u0926\u093e\u0939\u0930\u0923 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f, \u091a\u094b\u0930\u0940 (\u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 303) \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0938\u0902\u092a\u0924\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0915\u094b \u092c\u0947\u0908\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0940 \u0938\u0947 \u0932\u0947\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0906\u0936\u092f \u0906\u0935\u0936\u094d\u092f\u0915 \u0939\u0948, \u091b\u0932 (\u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 318) \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0915\u092a\u091f\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915 \u092f\u093e \u092c\u0947\u0908\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0940 \u0938\u0947 \u0909\u0924\u094d\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0947\u0930\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u093e \u0906\u0935\u0936\u094d\u092f\u0915 \u0939\u0948, \u0914\u0930 \u091a\u094b\u0930\u0940 \u0915\u0940 \u0938\u0902\u092a\u0924\u094d\u0924\u093f \u092a\u094d\u0930\u093e\u092a\u094d\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 (\u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 317(2)) \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092f\u0939 \u091c\u093e\u0928\u0928\u093e \u092f\u093e \u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923 \u0939\u094b\u0928\u093e \u0906\u0935\u0936\u094d\u092f\u0915 \u0939\u0948 \u0915\u093f \u0938\u0902\u092a\u0924\u094d\u0924\u093f \u091a\u094b\u0930\u0940 \u0915\u0940 \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u092e\u0943\u0924\u094d\u092f\u0941 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u092e\u093e\u092e\u0932\u094b\u0902 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0906\u0936\u092f \u0914\u0930 \u091c\u094d\u091e\u093e\u0928 \u0915\u0947 \u0906\u0927\u093e\u0930 \u092a\u0930 \u0939\u0940 \u0924\u092f \u0939\u094b\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u0915\u093f \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u0939\u0924\u094d\u092f\u093e (\u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 101), \u0906\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927\u093f\u0915 \u092e\u093e\u0928\u0935 \u0935\u0927 (\u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 100, 105) \u092f\u093e \u0909\u092a\u0947\u0915\u094d\u0937\u093e \u0938\u0947 \u092e\u0943\u0924\u094d\u092f\u0941 (\u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 106) \u0939\u0948\u0964<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u0938\u0902\u0939\u093f\u0924\u093e \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0927\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092f 3 &#8220;\u0938\u093e\u0927\u093e\u0930\u0923 \u0905\u092a\u0935\u093e\u0926&#8221; \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0910\u0938\u0940 \u0938\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0902 \u0926\u0940 \u0917\u0908 \u0939\u0948\u0902 \u091c\u093f\u0928\u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0926\u094b\u0937\u0940 \u092e\u0928 \u0928 \u0939\u094b\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923 \u0915\u094b\u0908 \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0939\u094b\u0924\u093e\u0964 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 14 \u0914\u0930 17 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0938\u093e\u0930, \u091c\u094b \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0915\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0924\u0925\u094d\u092f \u0915\u0940 \u092d\u0942\u0932 \u0915\u0947 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923, \u0928 \u0915\u093f \u0935\u093f\u0927\u093f \u0915\u0940 \u092d\u0942\u0932 \u0915\u0947 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923, \u0938\u0926\u094d\u092d\u093e\u0935\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915 \u092f\u0939 \u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u0915\u093f \u0935\u0939 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u0935\u093f\u0927\u093f \u0926\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0930\u093e \u0906\u092c\u0926\u094d\u0927 \u092f\u093e \u0928\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092f\u093e\u0928\u0941\u092e\u0924 \u0939\u0948, \u0909\u0938\u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 18 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0938\u093e\u0930 \u0935\u093f\u0927\u093f\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0923 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f \u0915\u0930\u0924\u0947 \u0938\u092e\u092f \u0926\u0941\u0930\u094d\u0918\u091f\u0928\u093e \u0938\u0947, \u092c\u093f\u0928\u093e \u0906\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927\u093f\u0915 \u0906\u0936\u092f \u092f\u093e \u091c\u094d\u091e\u093e\u0928 \u0915\u0947 \u0914\u0930 \u0909\u091a\u093f\u0924 \u0938\u0924\u0930\u094d\u0915\u0924\u093e \u0915\u0947 \u0938\u093e\u0925 \u0939\u0941\u0908 \u092c\u093e\u0924 \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 20 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0938\u093e\u0930 \u0938\u093e\u0924 \u0935\u0930\u094d\u0937 \u0938\u0947 \u0915\u092e \u0906\u092f\u0941 \u0915\u0947 \u0936\u093f\u0936\u0941 \u0926\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0930\u093e \u0915\u0940 \u0917\u0908 \u0915\u094b\u0908 \u092c\u093e\u0924 \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 22 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0938\u093e\u0930 \u091a\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0924-\u0935\u093f\u0915\u0943\u0924\u093f \u0915\u0947 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923 \u091c\u094b \u0935\u094d\u092f\u0915\u094d\u0924\u093f \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f \u0915\u0940 \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0915\u0943\u0924\u093f \u092f\u093e \u0909\u0938\u0915\u093e \u0926\u094b\u0937\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0923 \u092f\u093e \u0935\u093f\u0927\u093f \u0915\u0947 \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0924\u093f\u0915\u0942\u0932 \u0939\u094b\u0928\u093e \u091c\u093e\u0928\u0928\u0947 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0905\u0938\u092e\u0930\u094d\u0925 \u0939\u0948, \u0909\u0938\u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 23 \u0914\u0930 24 \u092e\u0924\u094d\u0924\u0924\u093e (\u0928\u0936\u0947) \u0938\u0947 \u0938\u0902\u092c\u0902\u0927\u093f\u0924 \u0939\u0948\u0902\u0964<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u0938\u0941\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0940\u092e \u0915\u094b\u0930\u094d\u091f \u0928\u0947 <em>\u092e\u0939\u093e\u0930\u093e\u0937\u094d\u091f\u094d\u0930 \u0930\u093e\u091c\u094d\u092f \u092c\u0928\u093e\u092e \u092e\u0947\u092f\u0930 \u0939\u0948\u0902\u0938 \u091c\u0949\u0930\u094d\u091c<\/em> (1964) \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0915\u0939\u093e \u0915\u093f \u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0923 (absolute) \u0926\u093e\u092f\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0935 \u0915\u0940 \u0906\u0938\u093e\u0928\u0940 \u0938\u0947 \u0909\u092a\u0927\u093e\u0930\u0923\u093e \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0915\u0940 \u091c\u093e \u0938\u0915\u0924\u0940; \u092b\u093f\u0930 \u092d\u0940 \u0935\u093f\u0926\u0947\u0936\u0940 \u092e\u0941\u0926\u094d\u0930\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0928\u0942\u0928 \u0915\u0947 \u0909\u0926\u094d\u0926\u0947\u0936\u094d\u092f \u0915\u094b \u0926\u0947\u0916\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0941\u090f \u0938\u094b\u0928\u093e \u0932\u093e\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0915\u093e\u0928\u0942\u0928 \u0915\u0940 \u091c\u093e\u0928\u0915\u093e\u0930\u0940 \u0938\u093e\u092c\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u093e \u0906\u0935\u0936\u094d\u092f\u0915 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u092e\u093e\u0928\u093e \u0917\u092f\u093e\u0964 \u0915\u0941\u091b \u0935\u093f\u0936\u0947\u0937 \u0915\u093e\u0928\u0942\u0928, \u091c\u0948\u0938\u0947 NDPS \u0905\u0927\u093f\u0928\u093f\u092f\u092e \u0915\u0940 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 35 \u0914\u0930 \u092a\u0949\u0915\u094d\u0938\u094b \u0905\u0927\u093f\u0928\u093f\u092f\u092e \u0915\u0940 \u0927\u093e\u0930\u093e 30, \u0928\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092f\u093e\u0932\u092f \u0915\u094b \u0906\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927\u093f\u0915 \u092e\u093e\u0928\u0938\u093f\u0915 \u0938\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u093f \u0915\u0940 \u0909\u092a\u0927\u093e\u0930\u0923\u093e \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0928\u093f\u0930\u094d\u0926\u0947\u0936 \u0926\u0947\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948\u0902, \u0914\u0930 \u0905\u092d\u093f\u092f\u0941\u0915\u094d\u0924 \u0915\u094b \u092f\u0939 \u0938\u093e\u092c\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u093e \u0939\u094b\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u0915\u093f \u0909\u0938\u0915\u0940 \u0910\u0938\u0940 \u092e\u093e\u0928\u0938\u093f\u0915 \u0938\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u093f \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0925\u0940\u0964 \u0938\u0941\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0940\u092e \u0915\u094b\u0930\u094d\u091f \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0928\u0941\u0938\u093e\u0930 \u0915\u0902\u092a\u0928\u0940 \u092a\u0930 \u092d\u0940 \u0910\u0938\u0947 \u0905\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927\u094b\u0902 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u092e\u0941\u0915\u0926\u092e\u093e \u091a\u0932 \u0938\u0915\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948 \u091c\u093f\u0928\u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092e\u0947\u0928\u094d\u0938 \u0930\u093f\u092f\u093e \u0906\u0935\u0936\u094d\u092f\u0915 \u0939\u0948 (\u0907\u0930\u093f\u0921\u093f\u092f\u092e \u0907\u0902\u0921\u093f\u092f\u093e \u091f\u0947\u0932\u0940\u0915\u0949\u092e, 2010)\u0964<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u092f\u0939 \u0939\u093f\u0902\u0926\u0940 \u0938\u093e\u0930\u093e\u0902\u0936 \u0938\u093e\u092e\u093e\u0928\u094d\u092f \u091c\u093e\u0928\u0915\u093e\u0930\u0940 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u092b\u0930\u094d\u092e \u0926\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0930\u093e \u0924\u0948\u092f\u093e\u0930 \u0915\u093f\u092f\u093e \u0917\u092f\u093e \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0907\u0938\u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092a\u094d\u0930\u092f\u0941\u0915\u094d\u0924 \u092f\u0947 \u0936\u092c\u094d\u0926 \u2013 \u092c\u0947\u0908\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0940, \u0915\u092a\u091f\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915, \u0938\u0926\u094d\u092d\u093e\u0935\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915, \u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923, \u0938\u094d\u0935\u0947\u091a\u094d\u091b\u092f\u093e, \u0938\u0926\u094b\u0937 \u0905\u092d\u093f\u0932\u093e\u092d, \u0938\u0926\u094b\u0937 \u0939\u093e\u0928\u093f, \u0938\u093e\u0927\u093e\u0930\u0923 \u0905\u092a\u0935\u093e\u0926, \u0924\u0925\u094d\u092f \u0915\u0940 \u092d\u0942\u0932, \u0926\u0941\u0930\u094d\u0918\u091f\u0928\u093e, \u091a\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0924-\u0935\u093f\u0915\u0943\u0924\u093f \u0914\u0930 \u092e\u0924\u094d\u0924\u0924\u093e \u2013 \u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924\u0940\u092f \u0928\u094d\u092f\u093e\u092f \u0938\u0902\u0939\u093f\u0924\u093e, 2023 \u0915\u0947 \u0906\u0927\u093f\u0915\u093e\u0930\u093f\u0915 \u0939\u093f\u0902\u0926\u0940 \u092a\u093e\u0920 \u0938\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u0917\u090f \u0939\u0948\u0902\u0964<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">What does mens rea mean in law?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Mens rea is Latin for &#8220;guilty mind&#8221;. In criminal law it means the state of mind the law requires for an offence, such as intention, knowledge, dishonesty or a reason to believe something. It is the counterpart of actus reus, the guilty act; the Supreme Court has used both terms (Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra, 1964).<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-2\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">What is the full maxim of mens rea?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">The full Latin maxim is &#8220;actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea&#8221;. Word for word it means &#8220;the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is guilty&#8221;. Proving the forbidden act is not enough; the mental element the offence requires must also be proved, unless the statute has excluded it. No Indian statute reproduces the maxim in these words.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-3\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Does every offence in India require mens rea?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">No, but most do. Most offences in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita state their own mental element. For statutes that are silent, the Supreme Court presumes mens rea is needed: &#8220;absolute liability is not to be lightly presumed but has to be clearly established&#8221;. The statute&#8217;s words and object can still exclude it, as the Court held for bringing gold into India in breach of the foreign exchange law (State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George, 1964). Some laws, such as Section 35 of the NDPS Act, presume the culpable mental state instead.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-4\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">How is intention proved in court?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Usually by inference from the circumstances. The Supreme Court has said that &#8220;In criminal prosecution mens rea must necessarily be proved by circumstantial evidence alone unless the accused confesses&#8221;, and that the circumstances of the case &#8220;will then determine the criminal intent&#8221; as &#8220;a matter of a proper inference from them&#8221; (Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra, 1964).<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-5\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">What is the difference between intention and knowledge?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">In plain terms (the BNS does not define the words), intention is the aim of bringing about a result; knowledge is awareness that the act is likely to bring it about, even if that is not the aim. Culpable homicide covers causing death &#8220;with the intention of causing death&#8221; or &#8220;with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death&#8221; (Section 100 BNS, formerly Section 299 IPC), and under Section 105 BNS (formerly Section 304 IPC) the punishment is heavier where death is caused with intention than where it is caused only with knowledge.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-6\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Where is mens rea in the IPC and the BNS?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Neither Code uses the Latin words. The mental element is written into most offences, and key words are defined in Section 2 BNS: &#8220;dishonestly&#8221; (2(7)), &#8220;fraudulently&#8221; (2(9)), &#8220;good faith&#8221; (2(11)), &#8220;reason to believe&#8221; (2(29)) and &#8220;voluntarily&#8221; (2(33)), which were Sections 24, 25, 52, 26 and 39 of the IPC. The general exceptions linked to the guilty mind, such as mistake of fact, accident, infancy, unsoundness of mind and intoxication, are in Chapter III, Sections 14 to 24 BNS (formerly Sections 76 to 86 IPC).<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-7\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">What is mens rea called in Hindi?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Mens rea can be rendered in Hindi as &#8220;\u0926\u094b\u0937\u0940 \u092e\u0928&#8221; or &#8220;\u0906\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927\u093f\u0915 \u092e\u0928\u0903\u0938\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u093f&#8221; (guilty mind); this is the firm&#8217;s rendering, as the official Hindi text of the BNS does not use the Latin phrase. The official Hindi BNS uses &#8220;\u092c\u0947\u0908\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0940&#8221; for dishonestly (Section 2(7)), &#8220;\u0915\u092a\u091f\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915&#8221; for fraudulently (Section 2(9)), &#8220;\u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923&#8221; for reason to believe (Section 2(29)) and &#8220;\u0938\u094d\u0935\u0947\u091a\u094d\u091b\u092f\u093e&#8221; for voluntarily (Section 2(33)).<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-8\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Is ignorance of the law a defence?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Not under the general exceptions. Sections 14 and 17 BNS (formerly Sections 76 and 79 IPC) protect a person who acts under &#8220;a mistake of fact and not by reason of a mistake of law&#8221;, held in good faith. In State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George (1964) the Supreme Court restored the conviction (with the sentence reduced to the period already undergone) of a passenger who did not know of the Reserve Bank notification he had breached.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-9\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Can a company be guilty of an offence that needs mens rea?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Yes. The Supreme Court has held that a corporation &#8220;may be convicted of common law as well as statutory offences including those requiring mens rea&#8221;, attributing to it the intent of its &#8220;alter ego&#8221; (Iridium India Telecom v. Motorola, 2010). But directors are not automatically liable for the company&#8217;s offence; there must be evidence of their own role and criminal intent, or a statute creating vicarious liability (Sunil Bharti Mittal v. CBI, 2015).<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-10\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Is mens rea needed for a civil or regulatory penalty?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Generally not. The Supreme Court has held that &#8220;mens rea is not an essential ingredient for contravention of the provisions of a civil act&#8221; and that the penalty is attracted once the contravention is established (Chairman, SEBI v. Shriram Mutual Fund, 2006).<\/p> <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mens rea \u2013 the guilty mind \u2013 is the second half of almost every crime. The maxim <em>actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea<\/em> is not written into Indian law in those words, but its idea runs through the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: most offences name their mental element, Section 2 defines words such as &#8220;dishonestly&#8221;, &#8220;fraudulently&#8221;, &#8220;reason to believe&#8221; and &#8220;voluntarily&#8221;, and Chapter III excuses acts done by mistake of fact, accident, a young child or a person of unsound mind. Where a statute is silent, the Supreme Court presumes a guilty mind is required but lets the statute&#8217;s words and purpose exclude it, as in <em>Mayer Hans George<\/em> (1964); some special laws presume the culpable mental state instead. More maxims are explained in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxims-explained\/\">Legal Maxims Explained<\/a> hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sources used for this post: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Sections 2(7), 2(9), 2(11), 2(26), 2(29), 2(33), 3(1), 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 100, 101, 103(1), 105, 106(1), 115(1), 294, 303(1), 316(1), 317(2), 318(1) and 358, and the commencement footnote (India Code, a2023-45.pdf, as on 6 October 2025), with the IPC correspondences from the firm&#8217;s section-by-section data checked against the Gazette text, and its official Hindi text (India Code, Hh202345.pdf, Sections 2(7), 2(9), 2(11), 2(29), 2(33), 2(36), 2(37) and 14 to 24, read from the printed pages); the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, Section 35 (India Code, a1985-61.pdf, last update 3 January 2022; the same text appears in India Code&#8217;s section record); the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, Section 10C (India Code, a1955-10.pdf, as on 15 April 2026); the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Section 30 (India Code, A2012-32.pdf, as on 1 July 2026); and the following Supreme Court judgments: State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George, judgment of 24 August 1964, 1965 AIR 722, https:\/\/api.sci.gov.in\/jonew\/judis\/3190.pdf; Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra, Criminal Appeal No. 178 of 1962, judgment of 19 August 1964, 1965 AIR 881, https:\/\/api.sci.gov.in\/jonew\/judis\/3196.pdf; The Chairman, SEBI v. Shriram Mutual Fund &#038; Anr., Civil Appeals 9523\u20139524 of 2003, judgment of 23 May 2006, https:\/\/api.sci.gov.in\/jonew\/judis\/27774.pdf; Iridium India Telecom Ltd. v. Motorola Incorporated &#038; Ors., Criminal Appeal No. 688 of 2005, judgment of 20 October 2010, https:\/\/api.sci.gov.in\/jonew\/judis\/37034.pdf; and Sunil Bharti Mittal v. Central Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Appeal No. 34 of 2015 and connected appeals, judgment of 9 January 2015, https:\/\/api.sci.gov.in\/jonew\/judis\/42239.pdf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"clf-related\" style=\"margin:28px 0 8px;padding:16px 20px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:6px;background:#fafafa\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700\">Related reading and free tools<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxims-explained\/\">Legal Maxims Explained: Meanings, Origins and Use in Indian Courts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-17\/\">Actus Reus \u2013 Legal Maxim of the Day<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-3\/\">Res Ipsa Loquitur \u2013 Legal Maxim<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/actori-incumbit-probatio-legal-maxim\/\">Actori Incumbit Probatio \u2013 Legal Maxim<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/dominus-litis-legal-maxim\/\">Dominus Litis Meaning<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-15\/\">Consensus Ad Idem \u2013 Legal Maxim<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/compoundable-and-non-compoundable-offences-explained\/\">Compoundable and Non-Compoundable Offences<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/section-120b-of-the-indian-penal-code-1860-punishment-of-criminal-conspiracy-ipc\/\">Section 120B IPC \/ Section 61 BNS: Criminal Conspiracy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/the-prevention-of-corruption-act-indias-comprehensive-battle-against-corruption\/\">The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/double-jeopardy-in-india-constitutional-safeguards-and-contemporary-challenges\/\">Double Jeopardy in India<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/bharatiya-nyaya-sanhita-bharatiya-nagarik-suraksha-sanhita-and-bharatiya-sakshya-bills-an-analysis-of-the-reform-of-indian-justice-system\/\">BNS, BNSS and BSA 2023 Explained<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-code-comparison-tool\/\">IPC to BNS, CrPC to BNSS Comparison Tool<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mens rea is Latin for &#8220;guilty mind&#8221;. It is the mental element of a crime: the intention, knowledge or other state of mind with which a person does the forbidden act. The idea comes from the Latin maxim actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which in plain English means &#8220;an act does not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[386],"tags":[387,388],"class_list":["post-457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-maxims","tag-legal-maxim","tag-legal-terminology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mens Rea Meaning in Law: Guilty Mind Maxim, BNS, Hindi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mens rea means &quot;guilty mind&quot;. The full maxim, how the BNS builds intention, knowledge and dishonesty into offences, exceptions and Supreme Court rulings.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mens Rea Meaning in Law: Guilty Mind Maxim, BNS, Hindi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mens rea means &quot;guilty mind&quot;. 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does mens rea mean in law?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Mens rea is Latin for \\\"guilty mind\\\". In criminal law it means the state of mind the law requires for an offence, such as intention, knowledge, dishonesty or a reason to believe something. It is the counterpart of actus reus, the guilty act; the Supreme Court has used both terms (Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra, 1964).\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-2\",\"position\":2,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-2\",\"name\":\"What is the full maxim of mens rea?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The full Latin maxim is \\\"actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea\\\". Word for word it means \\\"the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is guilty\\\". Proving the forbidden act is not enough; the mental element the offence requires must also be proved, unless the statute has excluded it. No Indian statute reproduces the maxim in these words.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-3\",\"position\":3,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-3\",\"name\":\"Does every offence in India require mens rea?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No, but most do. Most offences in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita state their own mental element. For statutes that are silent, the Supreme Court presumes mens rea is needed: \\\"absolute liability is not to be lightly presumed but has to be clearly established\\\". The statute's words and object can still exclude it, as the Court held for bringing gold into India in breach of the foreign exchange law (State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George, 1964). Some laws, such as Section 35 of the NDPS Act, presume the culpable mental state instead.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-4\",\"position\":4,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-4\",\"name\":\"How is intention proved in court?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Usually by inference from the circumstances. The Supreme Court has said that \\\"In criminal prosecution mens rea must necessarily be proved by circumstantial evidence alone unless the accused confesses\\\", and that the circumstances of the case \\\"will then determine the criminal intent\\\" as \\\"a matter of a proper inference from them\\\" (Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra, 1964).\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-5\",\"position\":5,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-5\",\"name\":\"What is the difference between intention and knowledge?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"In plain terms (the BNS does not define the words), intention is the aim of bringing about a result; knowledge is awareness that the act is likely to bring it about, even if that is not the aim. Culpable homicide covers causing death \\\"with the intention of causing death\\\" or \\\"with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death\\\" (Section 100 BNS, formerly Section 299 IPC), and under Section 105 BNS (formerly Section 304 IPC) the punishment is heavier where death is caused with intention than where it is caused only with knowledge.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-6\",\"position\":6,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-6\",\"name\":\"Where is mens rea in the IPC and the BNS?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Neither Code uses the Latin words. The mental element is written into most offences, and key words are defined in Section 2 BNS: \\\"dishonestly\\\" (2(7)), \\\"fraudulently\\\" (2(9)), \\\"good faith\\\" (2(11)), \\\"reason to believe\\\" (2(29)) and \\\"voluntarily\\\" (2(33)), which were Sections 24, 25, 52, 26 and 39 of the IPC. The general exceptions linked to the guilty mind, such as mistake of fact, accident, infancy, unsoundness of mind and intoxication, are in Chapter III, Sections 14 to 24 BNS (formerly Sections 76 to 86 IPC).\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-7\",\"position\":7,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-7\",\"name\":\"What is mens rea called in Hindi?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Mens rea can be rendered in Hindi as \\\"\u0926\u094b\u0937\u0940 \u092e\u0928\\\" or \\\"\u0906\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927\u093f\u0915 \u092e\u0928\u0903\u0938\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u093f\\\" (guilty mind); this is the firm's rendering, as the official Hindi text of the BNS does not use the Latin phrase. The official Hindi BNS uses \\\"\u092c\u0947\u0908\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0940\\\" for dishonestly (Section 2(7)), \\\"\u0915\u092a\u091f\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915\\\" for fraudulently (Section 2(9)), \\\"\u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923\\\" for reason to believe (Section 2(29)) and \\\"\u0938\u094d\u0935\u0947\u091a\u094d\u091b\u092f\u093e\\\" for voluntarily (Section 2(33)).\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-8\",\"position\":8,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-8\",\"name\":\"Is ignorance of the law a defence?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Not under the general exceptions. Sections 14 and 17 BNS (formerly Sections 76 and 79 IPC) protect a person who acts under \\\"a mistake of fact and not by reason of a mistake of law\\\", held in good faith. In State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George (1964) the Supreme Court restored the conviction (with the sentence reduced to the period already undergone) of a passenger who did not know of the Reserve Bank notification he had breached.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-9\",\"position\":9,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-9\",\"name\":\"Can a company be guilty of an offence that needs mens rea?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. The Supreme Court has held that a corporation \\\"may be convicted of common law as well as statutory offences including those requiring mens rea\\\", attributing to it the intent of its \\\"alter ego\\\" (Iridium India Telecom v. Motorola, 2010). But directors are not automatically liable for the company's offence; there must be evidence of their own role and criminal intent, or a statute creating vicarious liability (Sunil Bharti Mittal v. CBI, 2015).\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-10\",\"position\":10,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\\\/#faq-question-10\",\"name\":\"Is mens rea needed for a civil or regulatory penalty?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Generally not. 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In criminal law it means the state of mind the law requires for an offence, such as intention, knowledge, dishonesty or a reason to believe something. It is the counterpart of actus reus, the guilty act; the Supreme Court has used both terms (Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra, 1964).","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-2","position":2,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-2","name":"What is the full maxim of mens rea?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The full Latin maxim is \"actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea\". Word for word it means \"the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is guilty\". Proving the forbidden act is not enough; the mental element the offence requires must also be proved, unless the statute has excluded it. No Indian statute reproduces the maxim in these words.","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-3","position":3,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-3","name":"Does every offence in India require mens rea?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No, but most do. Most offences in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita state their own mental element. For statutes that are silent, the Supreme Court presumes mens rea is needed: \"absolute liability is not to be lightly presumed but has to be clearly established\". The statute's words and object can still exclude it, as the Court held for bringing gold into India in breach of the foreign exchange law (State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George, 1964). Some laws, such as Section 35 of the NDPS Act, presume the culpable mental state instead.","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-4","position":4,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-4","name":"How is intention proved in court?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Usually by inference from the circumstances. The Supreme Court has said that \"In criminal prosecution mens rea must necessarily be proved by circumstantial evidence alone unless the accused confesses\", and that the circumstances of the case \"will then determine the criminal intent\" as \"a matter of a proper inference from them\" (Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra, 1964).","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-5","position":5,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-5","name":"What is the difference between intention and knowledge?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"In plain terms (the BNS does not define the words), intention is the aim of bringing about a result; knowledge is awareness that the act is likely to bring it about, even if that is not the aim. Culpable homicide covers causing death \"with the intention of causing death\" or \"with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death\" (Section 100 BNS, formerly Section 299 IPC), and under Section 105 BNS (formerly Section 304 IPC) the punishment is heavier where death is caused with intention than where it is caused only with knowledge.","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-6","position":6,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-6","name":"Where is mens rea in the IPC and the BNS?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Neither Code uses the Latin words. The mental element is written into most offences, and key words are defined in Section 2 BNS: \"dishonestly\" (2(7)), \"fraudulently\" (2(9)), \"good faith\" (2(11)), \"reason to believe\" (2(29)) and \"voluntarily\" (2(33)), which were Sections 24, 25, 52, 26 and 39 of the IPC. The general exceptions linked to the guilty mind, such as mistake of fact, accident, infancy, unsoundness of mind and intoxication, are in Chapter III, Sections 14 to 24 BNS (formerly Sections 76 to 86 IPC).","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-7","position":7,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-7","name":"What is mens rea called in Hindi?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Mens rea can be rendered in Hindi as \"\u0926\u094b\u0937\u0940 \u092e\u0928\" or \"\u0906\u092a\u0930\u093e\u0927\u093f\u0915 \u092e\u0928\u0903\u0938\u094d\u0925\u093f\u0924\u093f\" (guilty mind); this is the firm's rendering, as the official Hindi text of the BNS does not use the Latin phrase. The official Hindi BNS uses \"\u092c\u0947\u0908\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0940\" for dishonestly (Section 2(7)), \"\u0915\u092a\u091f\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0915\" for fraudulently (Section 2(9)), \"\u0935\u093f\u0936\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u0930\u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0923\" for reason to believe (Section 2(29)) and \"\u0938\u094d\u0935\u0947\u091a\u094d\u091b\u092f\u093e\" for voluntarily (Section 2(33)).","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-8","position":8,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-8","name":"Is ignorance of the law a defence?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Not under the general exceptions. Sections 14 and 17 BNS (formerly Sections 76 and 79 IPC) protect a person who acts under \"a mistake of fact and not by reason of a mistake of law\", held in good faith. In State of Maharashtra v. Mayer Hans George (1964) the Supreme Court restored the conviction (with the sentence reduced to the period already undergone) of a passenger who did not know of the Reserve Bank notification he had breached.","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-9","position":9,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-9","name":"Can a company be guilty of an offence that needs mens rea?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. The Supreme Court has held that a corporation \"may be convicted of common law as well as statutory offences including those requiring mens rea\", attributing to it the intent of its \"alter ego\" (Iridium India Telecom v. Motorola, 2010). But directors are not automatically liable for the company's offence; there must be evidence of their own role and criminal intent, or a statute creating vicarious liability (Sunil Bharti Mittal v. CBI, 2015).","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-10","position":10,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/legal-maxim-of-the-day-11\/#faq-question-10","name":"Is mens rea needed for a civil or regulatory penalty?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Generally not. The Supreme Court has held that \"mens rea is not an essential ingredient for contravention of the provisions of a civil act\" and that the penalty is attracted once the contravention is established (Chairman, SEBI v. Shriram Mutual Fund, 2006).","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-06-03-at-2.19.22-PM.jpeg",1080,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-06-03-at-2.19.22-PM-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-06-03-at-2.19.22-PM-300x300.jpeg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-06-03-at-2.19.22-PM-768x768.jpeg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-06-03-at-2.19.22-PM-1024x1024.jpeg",1024,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-06-03-at-2.19.22-PM.jpeg",1080,1080,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-06-03-at-2.19.22-PM.jpeg",1080,1080,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Mens rea is Latin for &#8220;guilty mind&#8221;. It is the mental element of a crime: the intention, knowledge or other state of mind with which a person does the forbidden act. The idea comes from the Latin maxim actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which in plain English means &#8220;an act does not&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5667,"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions\/5667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}