Persons concerned in criminal Act may be guilty of different offences

INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860

Section 38 - Persons concerned in criminal Act may be guilty of different offences

38. Persons concerned in criminal Act may be guilty of different offences.-- Where several persons are engaged or concerned in the commission of a criminal act, they may be guilty of different offences by means of that act. Illustration A attacks Z under such circumstances of grave provocation that his killing of Z would be only culpable homicide not amounting to murder. B, having ill- will towards Z and intending to kill him, and not having been subject to the provocation, assists A in killing Z. Here, though A and B are both engaged in causing Z' s death, B is guilty of murder, and A is guilty only of culpable homicide.