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(2) any person on any ship or aircraft registered in India wherever it may be;]
47.[(3) any person in any place without and beyond India committing offence
targeting a computer resource located in India.]
48.[Explanation.—In this section—
(a) the word "offence" includes every act committed outside India which,
if committed in India, would be punishable under this Code;
(b) the expression "computer resource" shall have the meaning assigned
to it in clause ( k ) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information
Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000).]
49.[ILLUSTRATION]
50.[***] A, 51.[who is a 52.[citizen of India]], commits a murder in Uganda. He
can be tried and convicted of murder in any place in 53.[India] in which he
may be found.
54.[***]
COMMENT—
This section shows the extent to which the Code applies to offences committed
outside India. The Code applies to any offence committed by—
(1) any citizen of India in any place, wherever he may be;
(2) any person on any ship or aircraft registered in India wherever it may be; and
(3) any person, whether or not a citizen of India, who commits any offence, from
anywhere in the world, targeting a computer resource located in India.
Hence, except for the case of an offence committed against a computer resource
located in India, to extend the scope of operation of IPC, 1860 against persons, either
the offender must be a citizen of India or he must have committed the offence on any
ship or aircraft registered in India.
[s 4.1] Crimes committed outside India.—
Where an offence is committed beyond the limits of India but the offender is found
within its limits, then
(I) he may be given up for trial in the country where the offence was committed
(extradition) or
(II) he may be tried in India (extraterritorial jurisdiction).
Where an offence was committed by an Indian citizen outside India, it was held that the
offence was punishable under the IPC, 1860. An investigation of such an offence would
not require sanction of the Central Government under the proviso to section 188, Cr PC,
1973. But an enquiry as contemplated by section 202, Cr PC, 1973 could only be with
the sanction of the Central Government.55.
(I) Extradition.—Extradition is the surrender by one State to another of a person desired
to be dealt with for crimes of which he has been accused or convicted and which are
justiciable in the Courts of the other State. Surrender of a person within the State to
another State—whether a citizen or an alien—is a political act done in pursuance of a
treaty or an arrangement ad hoc.56. Though extradition is granted in implementation of
the international commitment of the State, the procedure to be followed by the Courts
in deciding, whether extradition should be granted and on what terms, is determined by
the municipal law of the land. Extradition is founded on the broad principle that it is in
the interest of civilised communities that criminals should not go unpunished and on
that account, it is recognised as a part of the comity of nations that one State should
ordinarily afford to another State assistance towards bringing offenders to justice.57.
The procedure for securing the extradition from India is laid down in the Extradition Act,
1962.
(II) Extraterritorial jurisdiction.—Indian Courts are empowered to try offences
committed out of India on (A) land, (B) high seas or (C) aircraft.
(A) Land.—By virtue of sections 3 and 4 of the Penal Code, and section 188 of the Cr
PC, 1973 local Courts can take cognizance of offences committed beyond the
territories of India. Where the Court is dealing with an act committed outside India by a
citizen of India which would be an offence punishable under the Penal Code if it had
been committed in India, section 4 constitutes the act an offence and it can be dealt
with under section 188 of the Cr PC, 1973.58. If, however, at the time of commission of
the offence the accused person is not a citizen of India, the provisions of section 4 of
the Penal Code and section 188 of the Cr PC, 1973 have no application.59.
Section 188 of the Cr PC, 1973, provides that when an offence is committed outside
India—
(a) by a citizen of India, whether on high seas or elsewhere; or
(b) by any person not being such citizen on any ship or aircraft registered in India,
he may be dealt with in respect of such offence as if it had been committed at
any place within India at which he may be found.
The word 'found' in section 188, Cr PC, 1973 means not where a person is discovered
but where he is actually present.60. A man brought to a place against his will can be
said to be found there.61. When a man is in the country and is charged before a
Magistrate with an offence under the Penal Code, it will not avail him to say that he was
brought there illegally from a foreign country. The Bombay High Court has laid down
this principle, following English precedents, in Savarkar's case.62. The accused Savarkar
had escaped at Mareseilles from the custody of police officers charged with the duty of
bringing him from London to Bombay, but was re-arrested there and brought to Bombay
and committed for trial by the Special Magistrate at Nasik. The High Court held that the
trial and committal were valid.63. The provisions of the IPC, 1860 have been extended
to offences committed by any citizen of India in any place within and beyond India by
virtue of section 4 thereof. Accordingly, offences committed in Botswana by an Indian
citizen would also be amenable to the provisions of the IPC, 1860 subject to the
limitation imposed under the proviso to section 188 Cr PC, 1973.64. Section 4 gives
extraterritorial jurisdiction but as the Explanation says the acts committed must
amount to an offence under the Penal Code.65.
[s 4.2] Acts done within Indian as well as foreign territory.—
A person who is a citizen of India is liable to be tried by the Courts of this country for
acts done by him, partly within and partly without the Indian territories, provided the
acts amount together to an offence under the Code.66.
(B) Admiralty jurisdiction.—The jurisdiction to try offences committed on the high seas
is known as the admiralty jurisdiction. It is founded on the principle that a ship on the
high seas is a floating island belonging to the nation whose flag she is flying.
Admiralty jurisdiction extends over—
(1) Offences committed on Indian ships on the high seas.
(2) Offences committed on foreign ships in Indian territorial waters.
(3) Piracy.
Power to enforce claims against foreign ships is an essential attribute of admiralty
jurisdiction and it is assumed over such ships while they are within the jurisdiction of
the High Court by arresting and detaining them. Admiralty jurisdiction of the High
Courts in India has been historically traced to the Charters of 1774 and 1728, as
subsequently expanded and clarified by the Letters Patent of 1823, 1862 and 1865 read
with the Admiralty Court Act, 1861, the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890, and the
Colonial Court of Admiralty (India) Act, 1891 and preserved by section 106 of the
Government of India Act, 1915, section 223 of the Government of India Act, 1935 and