Whoever commits extortion shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
Explanation: Section 384 of IPC prescribes punishment for the offence of extortion. Extortion is defined under Section 383 IPC as putting a person in fear of an injury to himself or another, and thereby dishonestly inducing the person to deliver property, money, or valuable security to any person. Extortion is, essentially, agreement due to fear rather than free choice.
If A threatens B, as to say, “Give me ₹10,000, or I will do some form of injury to you and your family”, this constitutes extortion, as B has moved with the money.
Essential Ingredients
- Putting in fear of injury – The accused must have intentionally put the victim in fear of injury to his person, reputation, or property.
- Dishonest inducement – The accused must have put in fear of injury, inducing the victim to part with property, money, or valuable security.
- Delivery of property – The victim must have passed over the property or the victim agreed to pass the said property as a direct result of the victim’s fear.
- Mens rea (intention) – The action must be done with dishonest intention and to cause wrongful gain to oneself or wrongful loss to another person.
Punishment
According to IPC section 384 the crime of extortion is punishable by:
- Imprisonment of any description (simple or rigorous) for a term not exceeding 3 years; or
- Fine; or
- Both imprisonment and fine.
This indicates that extortion is treated as a serious crime because it denies a person the experience of free consent or security.
Examples
- A threatens B that he will make public defamatory and negative photographs unless B pays him money. B is frightened and gives A money. This is regarded as extortion.
- A kidnaps B’s child and demand ransom. To say that he paid the money under threat of being harmed is extortion.
- A threatens to burn B’s shop down if B does not pay him protection money. B pays because he is frightened of A so this constitutes extortion.
Landmark Cases
- Romesh Chandra Arora v. State (1960) – Supreme Court ruled that if someone threatens to publish your private photographs with your consent to obtain money, it is considered extortion because you parted with the money due to fear.
- State of Karnataka v. Basavaraj (1994) – Court noted that there must be evidence of the threat, and the victim delivering the property because of that threat to complete the extortion.
- R.S. Nayak v. A.R. Antulay (1986) – Court ruled that even officials in public office if they corruptly misuse their position to obtain a benefit when there is evidence that they used threats of safety can be charged with extortion.
IPC Section 384 prescribes punishment for extortion of imprisonment up to three years, fine or both. The offence of extortion requires proof of, threat or intimidation; dishonest inducement (desire to induce someone to surrender the property by means of threat or intimidation); and lastly, an actual delivery of the property due to fear. This section protects individuals from being forced to give up property (money or services) unwillingly and protects individuals from the consequences of threats or fear used as a coercive measure to gain monetary wealth under the penal code.