Fact of the case :

The appellant applied in University of Patna for permission to appear in the M.A. Examination (English) as a private candidate. He showed that he had a B.A. degree, and he was a teacher in a school. For the application he was asked to attach certain certificates. He attached the certificates purporting to be from the Headmaster of the School, and the Inspector of Schools. The authorities of the University accepted the application and allowed him for the examination.

The admission card was sent to the Headmaster of the School. When the information received by the University that the appellant was neither graduate nor a teacher. It was also found that the certificate furnished for the admission were forged and even he had been de-barred from taking admission in any University examination. The reason was he committed corrupt practices in university examination.

The case was reported to the police and investigation started. He was convicted for the offence of attempting to cheat by false representations and deceived the University. He was prosecuted and convicted under Section 420 (318(4) BNS) read with Section 511 of IPC (S 62 BNS).He filed an appeal before the Patna High Court and the court dismissed the appeal. Then he filed appeal by special leave before the Supreme Court against the judgment of Patna High Court.

First contention of the appellant was that the admission card has no pecuniary value, and it is not a property under, Section 415 of IPC (318(1) BNS) and second contention was the steps taken by him did not go beyond the stage of preparation and therefore the offence of cheating was not committed.

Issues Involved

Whether the conviction of the appellant under Sections 420 (S 318(4) BNS and 511 (S 62 BNS) of IPC is maintainable?

Held : Supreme Court held that a person commits the offence of attempt when-

1. He intends to commit that offence;

2. Having made preparations and with the intention to commit the offence does an act towards its commission;

3. Such an act need not be a penultimate (next to last) act towards the commission of offence but must be an act during the course of committing the offence.

The Supreme Court observed that the preparation was complete when he had prepared the application for the purpose of submission to the University. The moment he dispatched it, he entered the realm (domain) of attempting to commit the offence of ‘cheating’. The SC held that the admission card is ‘Property’. The appellant would therefore have committed the offence of ‘cheating’.