Legal Provisions of Section 213 of Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Taking gift, etc., to screen an offender from punishment:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
This section and the succeeding section penalises illegal compounding of a crime by some agreement etc. not to bring the offender to justice if there is restoration of a property or giving of pecuniary or other gratification. This is so because law does not allow anyone to compound all crimes on the ground that he himself has suffered from them.
Therefore, this section prescribes penalty for taking gift etc. with a view to screen an offender from legal punishment. It says that whoever either accepts or attempts to obtain, or agrees to accept, any gratification either for himself or for any other person, or any restitution of property to himself or to any other person, in consideration of either concealment of an offence by him, or screening of any person by him from legal punishment for any offence, or not proceeding against any person by him for the purpose of bringing him to legal punishment, shall be punished with simple or rigorous imprisonment for a term extending upto seven years, and shall also be liable to fine, where the offence is punishable with death; and shall be punished with simple or rigorous imprisonment for a term extending upto three years, and shall also be liable to fine where the offence is punishable with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment extending upto ten years; and shall be punished with imprisonment of the description which has been provided for the offence for a term extending upto one-fourth part of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for the offence, or with fine, or with both where the offence is punishable with imprisonment not extending to ten years.
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The section requires that there must be an acceptance of gratification, or attempt to obtain a gratification, or agreement to accept a gratification for himself or any other person or restitution of property to himself or any other person. This must be proved to be in consideration of his concealing an offence or screening any person from legal punishment for any offence, or of his not proceeding against him to bring him to punishment under law.
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ADVERTISEMENTS:
But the Bombay High Court has ruled that no such actual concealment, or screening, or not proceeding to bring to legal punishment is needed, and it is enough if acceptance, attempt to obtain or agreement to accept gratification in consideration of a promise to conceal an offence or screen a person from legal punishment or desist from taking any proceedings to bring one to legal punishment is established.
The offence under this section is cognizable, bailable and non-compoundable, and is triable by magistrate of the first class.
The exception given under section 214 of the Code says that the provisions of sections 213 and 214 do not extend to any case in which the offence may lawfully be compounded.