A person is said to cause an effect “voluntarily” when he causes it by means whereby he intended to cause it, or by means which, at the time of employing those means, he knew or had reason to believe to be likely to cause it.
Section history
Section 39 — “Voluntarily”
As in force on 30 November 2008.
The text below is this provision as reproduced in the Revised Edition that came into force on this date. A revised edition consolidates the law without changing its substance, so editorial amendments — such as renumbering, updated citations and formatting — may have been made but are not shown as a redline.
Illustration
A sets fire, by night, to an inhabited house in a large town, for the purpose of facilitating a robbery, and thus causes the death of a person. Here A may not have intended to cause death, and may even be sorry that death has been caused by this act; yet, if he knew that he was likely to cause death, he has caused death voluntarily.
[Indian PC 1860, s. 39]