Haryana Judicial Service (Civil Judge) Prelims 2010 Previous Year Question Papers with MCQ Answers

The correct option is A: criminal breach of trust. The explanation is as follows :

Criminal breach of trust is defined under Section 405 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 as follows:

"Whoever, being in any manner entrusted with property, or with any dominion over property, dishonestly misappropriates or converts to his own use that property, or dishonestly uses or disposes of that property in violation of any direction of law prescribing the mode in which such trust is to be discharged, or of any legal contract, express or implied, which he has made touching the discharge of such trust, or wilfully suffers any other person so to do, commits 'criminal breach of trust'."

The essential ingredients of criminal breach of trust are:

- Entrustment of property or dominion over property

- Dishonest misappropriation or conversion or use or disposal of the property

- Violation of any direction of law or contract regarding the discharge of the trust

In the given scenario, the servant was entrusted with the money by his master to collect it from the debtor. The servant dishonestly retained the money in his hands, which was a violation of the contract between him and his master. The servant also used the money for his own benefit, which was due to him as wages. Therefore, the servant committed criminal breach of trust.

The other options are incorrect because:

- Theft is defined under Section 378 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 as follows:

"Whoever, intending to take dishonestly any movable property out of the possession of any person without that person's consent, moves that property in order to such taking, is said to commit theft."

The difference between theft and criminal breach of trust is that in theft, the property is taken out of the possession of the owner without his consent, whereas in criminal breach of trust, the property is entrusted to the offender by the owner with his consent.

- No offence is not applicable because the servant clearly violated the trust and the contract of his master by retaining the money dishonestly.

- Criminal misappropriation is defined under Section 403 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 as follows:

"Whoever dishonestly misappropriates or converts to his own use any movable property, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both."

The difference between criminal misappropriation and criminal breach of trust is that in criminal misappropriation, the property is obtained by some casualty or otherwise, whereas in criminal breach of trust, the property is obtained due to the trust vested by the owner on the offender.