History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.457

v4.c63.457

A crime may be defined as an act or omission that breaks the law and is subject to public punishment. But all kinds of breaches of the law do not result in punishment; only some do. Those breaches are crimes which are deemed to be menaces to the conditions of existence of society, which society, the ruler, or legislation recognises as preventible only through punishment. The menace is not that of the specific action, but the abstract menace inherent in that type of action. A breach that is held to be a crime at one time may even be held not to be a crime at another time or in another country. For example, adultery is a crime under the Indian Penal Code (sec. 497), while it is not a crime but a civil wrong in English Law.