Section 120B - Punishment of Criminal Conspiracy
As defined under the Code, Section 120B IPC states,
(1). “Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or rigorous imprisonment for a term of two years or upwards, shall, where no express provision is made in this code for the punishment of such a conspiracy, be punished in the same manner as if he had abetted such offence.
(2). Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable as aforesaid shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months, or with fine or with both.
To understand the punishment for Sec 120B IPC, first, it is to be understood, what does the term criminal conspiracy mean.
The offence of criminal conspiracy is defined under section 120A of IPC. It states as, “when two or more persons agree to commit an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term of two years, or upwards, or to cause such an offence to be committed, the agreement is designated a criminal conspiracy IPC.
Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to do an illegal act. In this, no physical action takes place, no crime is committed, it is only the planning stage which also becomes punishable.
Eg: if X, Y, and Z make a plan to murder C, the conversation or the planning and plotting made by them in order to achieve the desired goal is the movement between them to murder C. In this case, three of the people, X, Y, and Z will be held liable for planning to kill C. It is also clear from the points that the agreement between X, Y and Z was an illegal agreement.
Section 120 B Indian Penal Code provides for the punishment in the cases of criminal conspiracy IPC. Under the purview of IPC 120 B, conspiracy is divided into two categories depending on the nature and gravity and punishment for the said offences. Also, whether the case is bailable or not, depends on the above-mentioned circumstance.
Starting with the first part, it states that, if the conspiracy is to commit an offence of serious nature, an offence which is punishable with the death imprisonment or imprisonment for life or with rigorous imprisonment for at least a term of 2 years or more than that, or if there is no punishment mentioned in the code for the offence committed, such person shall be treated in the same manner as of the offence committed and abetted by him.
Whereas, in the other part of sec. 120B Indian Penal Code, conspiracy other than the offence committed under the first part, conspiracy to commit an illegal act is covered.
In this kind of cases, the section provides a uniform punishment, which means imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend up to six months, or fine, or both.
The cases where the conspiracy remains unsuccessful, they are punishable only with the fine.
Section 196(1)(b) of the criminal procedure code states that no court shall take cognizance of a criminal conspiracy except with the previous sanction of the central government or of the state government.
