TEAM CODE –R06

DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

MOOT COURT AND CLINICAL LEGAL EDUCATION , 2020.

Before ,

THE HON’BLE HIGH COURT

CRIMINAL APPEAL UNDER SEC. 374 OF

CRMINAL PROCEDURE CODE

DINESH

( APPELLANT )

v.

STATE

( RESPONDENT )

WRITTEN SUBMISSION ON THE BEHALF OF RESPONDENT

1|Page
 TABLE OF CONTENT

Contents
TABLE OF CONTENT.........................................................................................................................2
LIST OF ABBREVIATION..................................................................................................................2
INDEX OF AUTHORITIES.................................................................................................................4
STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION......................................................................................................5
STATEMENT OF FACTS....................................................................................................................6
ISSUE RAISED....................................................................................................................................8
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS...........................................................................................................9
ARGUMENTS ADVANCED.............................................................................................................10
PRAYER.............................................................................................................................................14

2|Page
 LIST OF ABBREVIATION

A.I.R All India Report

S.C.C Supreme Court Cases
CoV Corona Virus
Def. Definition
§ Section
⁋ Paragraph
IPC Indian Penal Code
CrPC Criminal Procedure Code.

3|Page
INDEX OF AUTHORITIES

4|Page
 STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION

The counsel on the behalf of Respondent, humbly submits before the Hon’ble High Court, the
memorial on the behalf of State under Sec. 374 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.

The present memorial sets forth the facts, contentions, and arguments in the present
case.

5|Page
 STATEMENT OF FACTS
1. India is populous, plural democracy which has thrived on natural resources which are
found in abundance in India. It has been a country of billions of populaces which
could survive inclusively after so many years.
2. Avinash is a dashing young man running in forties and works in XXX Biolives a
Biopharmaceutical company which is a Drug Company having a dumping capacity of
75% of drug market in India. Avinash has graduated from Jawahar Law Nehru
University and has done his Ph.D. in Bio-Chemistry. His area of specialization is
patenting the microorganism. He is young & bright chap radiating positivity in life.
3. Microorganism are often taken both positively and negatively by the mankind as the
human existence and termination both is dependent upon them. Finding this area very
exciting Avinash makes it his career.
4. Avinash is closely associated with Research and Development Activity for his
company and he is repository of many credible and confidential information about
microorganism. Avinash is man of repute and person of integrity and standing in
society.
5. Wuhan a place in China is suffering with the epidemic caused by Corona Virus. India
has taken all necessary measures to monitor its status in India. India is closely
monitoring its status and making all necessary steps in this regard.
6. Avinash has access to all National Labs maintained by CSIR, ICMR and he also has
access to National Institute of Virology, Pune. Avinash while developing a
microorganism related to SARS learnt about CoV. CoV are contained in the NIV,
Pune lab in close monitoring. Avinash receives few samples of the same for working
on an anti-dote.
7. Dinesh is a neighbor of Avinash. Dikesh is brother of Dinesh who has been a software
engineer working in Wuhan, China and while the outbreak of CoV in China he was
rescued by Indian embassy and when tested he was found CoV positive. He was
quarantined in New Delhi in monitoring of AIIMS and after medications and
repetitive tests he was found healthy and was discharged.
8. Avinash is in love with Diksha who is sister of Dinesh. Avinash and Diksha has been
friends since their childhood and they share a good camaraderie. They visit

6|Page
 universities together and settle down in their lives. Avinash and Diksha are in
courtship and seeing each other for last 15 years. They want to marry each other.
9. Dinesh and Dikesh both are not happy with this relationship. The relationship of
Avinash and Diksha is not well received by brothers duo. Dikesh has often been in to
physical altercation with Avinash and thrashed him several times on account of his
meeting with his sister Diksha. However, Diksha has always maintained that she loves
Avinash and wants to marry him.
10. In January 2020 Dinesh goes to Indira Gandhi International Airport to receive a friend
who is coming from Singapore. He is a dear friend whom Dinesh wants to surprise at
the Airport. On Airport many instructions by Government of India is displayed for
CoV via flyers, banners, easel and standees.
11. In February 2020 suddenly Dinesh starts having fever and catches flu. Sneezing and
coughing becomes regular and he suddenly faints. When admitted to Hospital he is
tested for CoV and he is found positive. He after being quarantined and on medication
finally dies due to infection of CoV.
12. Dikesh performs his final rites and starts to catch up normal routine of life. Due to this
crisis in life Diksha comes closer to Avinash which is not taken as good by Dikesh.
Dikesh comes to Avinash Home and asks him to be away of Diksha otherwise he will
bear dire consequences for the same.
13. Dikesh comes to know that Avinash is working on an anti-dote of CoV. He while
following his routine comes to know that Avinash had access to CoV sample in NIV
Pune. He lodges a FIR against Avinash that he got Dinesh killed by infecting him
with CoV.
14. In defense Avinash pleads not guilty and refuses the charges and holds that virus of
CoV were not cleared fully of Dikesh and Dinesh was infected by his own brother.
Dikesh says that he has been cleared by the quarantine team monitored by AIIMS so
he is no more carrier of CoV Virus. Trial Court asks for test of Dikesh and finds him
positive.
15. Dikesh now pleads that he has been also infected by Avinash. Avinash is charged for
Murder of Dinesh and punished by Trial Court with life imprisonment. He challenges
the decision of trial court in High Court. Argue the case.

7|Page
 ISSUE RAISED

[ISSUE] WHETHER AVINASH IS HELD LIABLE FOR THE CHARGE OF MURDER

UNDER SEC. 302 OF IPC.

8|Page
 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS

[ISSUE] THAT AVINASH IS HELD LIABLE FOR CHARGES OF MURDER

UNDER SEC.302 OF INDIAN PENAL CODE.

It is humbly submitted before the Hon’ble High Court that Avinash is liable for charges of
murder under Sec. 302 as it fulfils the essential requisite for the offence of murder that is
element of Mens Rea i.e guilty mind and Actus Rea i.e. guilty act. Thus, he intentionally
infect Dikesh with the deadly Corona Virus and hence, should be held liable.

9|Page
 ARGUMENTS ADVANCED

[ISSUE] THAT AVINASH IS HELD LIABLE FOR CHARGE OF MURDER UNDER

SEC. 302 OF INDIAN PENAL CODE.

It is humbly submitted before the Hon’ble High Court that Avinash being closely associated
with Research and Development Activity for his company and considering he is repository of
many credible and confidential information about microorganism had easy access to the virus
and thus capable of committing an offence under section 302 of IPC by the virtue that he
knowingly in the sense of vengeance used the fatal corona virus, that he had access to, as a
biological weapon to murder Dinesh.

[1.1] THAT AVINASH IS LIABLE UNDER 302 OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE AS

HE HAD THE REQUIRED MENS REA

Certain types of offences are defined in terms of a person's awareness of the existence of a

certain set of circumstances. For example, the fault element, or mens rea, required for the
offence of drug possession is that the offender knew that what he possessed were controlled
drugs. An offender who has actual knowledge of a specific set of circumstances but
nonetheless carries out the proscribed conduct is said to be blameworthy. As an autonomous
individual with free will, he said to have chosen the course of conduct despite having the
relevant knowledge. At the other end of the spectrum of positive fault is negligence. The
negligent offender does not possess any relevant knowledge; instead, he has fallen
short of the standard of foresight, knowledge or capacity expected of the reasonable person in
his position.1

Modern statutes have created a large number of offences in which the liabilities are absolute
and in such cases the law regards the criminal act itself as a sufficient prima facie proof of the
presence of mens  rea. Where a statute forbids an act the doing of the act itself
supplies mens  rea.2

1
Toh Yung Cheong “Knowing, Not Knowing And Almost Knowing: Knowledge and The Doctrine of Mens Rea” (2008) 20 SAcLJ 677
2
Manu Iyer, In re. (1953) SCC OnLine Mad 209 : (1953) 66 LW 1057 : 1953 MWN (Cri) 268 : AIR 1954 Mad 485 : 1954 Cri LJ 634 :
1953 MWN 904

10 | P a g e
In the case at hand, considering Avinash has access to all National Labs maintained by CSIR,
ICMR and he also has access to National Institute of Virology, Pune. Avinash while working
on a microorganism related to SARS came to know about the Corona virus. The National
Institute of Virology, Pune contained samples of Corona virus kept in the lab in close
monitoring and in the process Avinash received few samples of the corona virus for working
on an anti-dote.3

[1.2] ESTABLISHING MENS REA OF THE ACCUSED

Mens Rea refers to criminal intent. The literal translation from Latin is "guilty mind." The
plural of mens rea is mentes reae. A mens rea refers to the state of mind statutorily required
in order to convict a particular defendant of a particular crime. 4 Dikesh has often been in to
physical altercation with Avinash and thrashed him several times on account of his meeting
with his sister Diksha.5 In a case where, the accused was so much enraged because his sister
was being subject to eve teasing by three men had murdered them to take revenge. 6 It
suggests that this episode between him and Diksha’s brothers led to the generation of motive
in Avinash to take revenge. As he was working on making the antidote for corona virus, he
had them in his possession thus he could have easily infected Dinesh. The principle
of mens rea is the ultimate evaluation of criminal conduct, and because of that, it is deeply
involved in theories of punishment, mental disease, negligence, strict liability and current
issues.7

[1.3] THAT AVINASH USED A BIOLOGICAL WEAPON FOR COMMITTING THE

CRIME.

The  Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful
Activities) Act, 2005 prohibits unlawful activities in relation to weapons of mass destruction
and their delivery systems and has been enacted to safeguard national security as also to
furtherance of India's obligations as a State Party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their
Destruction and the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and

3
Factsheet, ¶6.
4
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/mens_rea
5
Factsheet, ¶9.
6
Raju v State of Haryana (2011) 14 SCC 636
7
B.B. Pande “The Hart/Wootton Debate About Criminal Responsibility Without Mens Rea : Implications For the Common Law Offences
in the United Kingdom and Penal Code and Statutory Law Offences in India” (2020) 1 SCC J-8

11 | P a g e
Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction.8
Microorganism are often taken both positively and negatively by the mankind as the human
existence and termination both is dependent upon them. 9 Avinash chose his career based on
this premise as he was intrigued by how mankind can use microorganisms for both
extremities of good and bad. Avinash is closely associated with Research and Development
Activity for his company and he is repository of many credible and confidential information
about microorganism.10 As Avinash had Corona Virus samples in his possession, so taking
advantage of his authority he misued the samples and used it as a biological weapon to
murder Dinesh as he had mens rea to take revenge.

[1.4]AVINASH’S ACTIONS FULFILL THE ACTUS REUS ELEMENT –

It is humbly submitted before this court that Avinash’s action fulfill the element of actus reus
and he is guilty of the murder or Dinesh and also guilty of infecting Dikesh too.
To establish criminal liability of any offense, two elements need to be satisfied-the physical
element (actus reus) and the mental element (mens rea). ‘Actus reus’ signifies the wrongful
act or omission, and ‘Mens rea’ denotes the guilty mind, reflected by motive, intention or
knowledge.11 In determining whether a person committed a crime, there are two issues to
consider: the person’s state of mind, or intent, and the actual physical act of committing the
crime. The Latin term actus reus refers to the actual act of doing the illegal thing, with no
reference to the person’s mental state. Actus reus is such result of human conduct as the law
seeks to prevent12. The requisite actus reus for criminal attempts necessitates that the act
done must be “more than merely preparatory” to the commission of the offence, the accused
intends to commit.13
In the case of State of Maharashtra v. Mohd. Yakub14, it was said that the actus reus necessary
to constitute an attempt is complete if the prisoner does an act which is a step towards the
commission of a specific crime which is immediately and not merely connected with the
commission of it, and the doing of which cannot reasonably be regarded as having any other
purpose than the commission of the specific crime

8
Criminal Writ Petition No. 4049 of 2012 2013 SCC OnLine Bom 1354 : (2013) 6 AIR Bom R 1171
9
Factsheet, ¶3.
10
Factsheet, ¶4.
11
Ankit Kumar Padhy and Amit Kumar Padhy, ‘Criminal Liability of the Artificial Intelligence Entities’ [2019] 8.2 NULJ 15
12
Birendra Pathak, ‘Revisiting Causation: “Unscrewing the Inscrutable”’ (2019) 7 SCC J-39
13
Saugata Mukherjee, ‘The Law of Attempts and the Shifting Basis of  Criminal Law in Modern Society’ 8 Stud Adv (1996) 12
14
State of Maharashtra v. Mohd. Yakub, (1980) 3 SCC 57

12 | P a g e
Avinash has done his phd in Bio Chemistry and is an expert in micro organism. Avinash is
closely associated with Research and Development Activity for his company and he is
repository of many credible and confidential information about microorganism.15 Avinash
also receives few samples of coronavirus for working on an anti-dote.16
Though Dikesh was initially found CoV positive but he was quarantined in New Delhi in
monitoring of AIIMS and after medications and repetitive tests he was found healthy and was
17
discharged. Also when Dinesh died, Dikesh was healthy and coronavirus free as he was
cleared by the quarantine team monitored by AIIMS so there is no possibility that Dinesh
somehow caught the virus from his own brother Dikesh as is contended by Avinash. Also
Dikesh has often been in to physical altercation with Avinash and thrashed him several times
on account of his meeting with his sister Diksha.18 So it is clear that Avinash used the sample
of coronavirus that he was provided with for research to first infected Dinesh due to
vengeance and later he also infected Dikesh for the same reason.

15
Factsheet
16
Factsheet
17
Factsheet
18
Factsheet

13 | P a g e
 PRAYER

Therefore in the lights of the facts of the case, issues raised, arguments advanced and
authorities cited this Hon’ble High Court may be pleased to adjudge and declare that:

 Avinash is liable for the offence of murder under Sec. 302 of Indian Penal Code

And may pass any other order in favour of the respondent that it may deem fit in the interest
of justice, equity and good conscience.

14 | P a g e