Criminal Litigation in India deals with the Criminal Law which is governed by three Acts, namely:

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Apart from these three Acts, the Indian Criminal Jurisprudence is governed by numerous other Special Laws formulated to address specific criminal offences. For instance, Prevention of Corruption Act, Food Adulteration Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), POSH, etc.

Whatever may be the crime, the criminal liability is based on two elements i.e. wrongful act and wrongful intention.

Maxim – “actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” i.e. there must be a wrongful act done with a wrongful intention.