Wrongful restraint/confinement

                    Police applies sections of Indian Penal Code by analyzing the words/sentences used in the complaint by the complainant. So a complainant must be aware of the words/sentences, he uses in his complaint. First of all, police enters the contents of complaint in the daily-diary of the police-station and if find the contents of a cognizable offence, only then FIR is registered. In case of FIR, case is completed through government agencies as police and district attorney etc. in the court. Complainant appears only once in the court as witness whereas in case of non-cognizable offence, complaint is entered only in daily-diary of the police station. The complainant is directed to contest his case in the court by his own.

                     The complainant visits police-station usually with his complaint with the following type of mindset :

• When he wants to get his case registered as FIR.
• When he wants to register his complaint but not as FIR but just as preventive action.

                     Without awareness of law, when a complainant visits police-station and registers his complaint with police but misses out the important contents in his complaint which were cognizable and police enters his complaint in the daily diary and directs the complainant to go to the court by his own as in every non-cognizable case whereas

                   Other party which is aware of law when visits police station with his complaint and intentionally adds words/sentences which make the complaint  a cognizable case (which is also wrong and separate sections of law have been provided to deal with such persons) and succeeds in getting his complaint registered as FIR and follows the investigation of the case.

                    A genuine person who unknowingly misses out the words/contents which he faced during occurrence of offence and were necessary to a offence to be cognizable is confused by not getting his complaint registered as FIR.

                    Today, we will discuss the case of  wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement which are covered under different sections of Indian Penal Code and are frequently used and misused in police FIR's. Sections 339-348 of the Indian Penal Code describe the wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement.

Wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement :

Wrongful restraint : Whenever any person obstructs other person so as to prevent that person from proceeding in any direction in which that person has a right to move.
                    e.g.  A person  obstructs path of another person which he has a right to pass. Person obstructing the path also knows that he can not stop his path. Ist person has committed an offence of wrongful restraint.

Wrongful confinement : Whenever any person wrongfully restrains another person to prevent him from proceeding beyond certain circumscribing limits.

                       e.g.  A person locks another person within a walled space and prevented him proceeding in any direction beyond circumscribing line of  wall.

                         All offences of wrongful restraint/confinement are cognizable.

Let us take a review of some important points :

• • If someone wrongfully restrains other person, punishment u/s 341 IPC is one month or fine upto 500/- or both.

  • If someone wrongfully confines other person, punishment u/s 342 IPC is upto one year or fine upto Rs 1000/- or both.

  • If someone confines other person for three or more days, punishment u/s 343 IPC is upto two years or fine or both.

  • If someone confines other person for more than ten days, punishment u/s 344 IPC is upto three years and fine.

  • If someone confines another person in a secret place, punishment u/s 346 IPC is upto two years.

  • If someone confines another person,to extort property or constrain to illegal ac, punishment u/s 347 IPC is upto three years and fine.

  • If someone confines another person to extort confession or compel restoration of proeprty, punishment u/s 348 IPC is upto three years and fine.