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Crime means wrongs done by human beings. It authorizes the infliction of State punishment. A human conduct that is believed to be inimical to the social interests is considered as crime. The purpose of criminal law is to express a formal social condemnation of forbidden conduct, supported by sanctions to prevent it.

According to *Blackstone*, ‘a crime is an act committed or omitted, in violation of a public law either forbidding or commanding it’. A crime is basically an act which a particular social group regards as sufficiently harmful to its fundamental interests.

The maxim *actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea* (the act does not amount to guilt, it must be accompanied by guilty mind) is considered as the basic condition to charge someone against penal liability i.e. mere guilty act and mere guilty mind are independently not sufficient, there has to be a nexus between the two.

*Following are the essential elements to constitute crime:*

*Actus Reus*- it is such result of human conduct which law prohibits i.e. the guilty act. An act may be positive or negative (omission). Wrongful act which inflicts harm or destruction to any person or property is read as guilty act.

*Mens Rea*- it is the guilty mind required for the commission of an offence. Mens Rea is the evil intention or knowledge to do a wrongful act voluntarily in conscious state of mind. It is the natural result of a man’s external act and not the condition of his mind. There must be a concurrence of mens rea and actus reus to constitute a crime.

*Punishment*- in order to call a wrongful act as crime it should not only be prohibited by the law but should also be punishable by the State. The chief aim of criminal law is to punish the offenders. The purpose of punishment is to prevent a criminal from repeating the offence.

In the case of *NATHUNI YADAV VS. STATE OF BIHAR* it was held that motive is not a perquisite for conviction of an offence; it has mere evidentiary value and mere absence or presence of motive will not make a person guilty or innocent.