BSA Section 8 — Things said or done by conspirator in reference to common design

Summary

This section deals with statements or actions made by one member of a conspiracy. If there is reasonable ground to believe that two or more people have conspired to commit an offence or an actionable wrong, then anything said, done, or written by any one of those people, in reference to their common intention, is a relevant fact. This applies against each of the people believed to be conspiring, and it is relevant both for proving that the conspiracy existed and for showing that any particular person was a party to it. The key condition is that the statement or action must have occurred after the time when the common intention was first entertained by any one of the conspirators.

The illustration gives an example. If there is reasonable ground to believe that A has joined a conspiracy to wage war against the State, then various acts by other people are relevant to prove both the conspiracy and A's involvement in it. These acts include B procuring arms in Europe for the purpose of the conspiracy, C collecting money in Kolkata for a like object, D persuading persons to join the conspiracy in Mumbai, E publishing writings advocating the object in view at Agra, and F transmitting from Delhi to G at Singapore the money that C had collected at Kolkata. Also relevant is the contents of a letter written by H giving an account of the conspiracy. All these are relevant even if A was ignorant of all of them, even if the people who did them were strangers to A, and even if these acts took place before A joined the conspiracy or after A left it.

Official Text

Where there is reasonable ground to believe that two or more persons have conspired together to commit an offence or an actionable wrong, anything said, done or written by any one of such persons in reference to their common intention, after the time when such intention was first entertained by any one of them, is a relevant fact as against each of the persons believed to be so conspiring, as well for the purpose of proving the existence of the conspiracy as for the purpose of showing that any such person was a party to it.

Illustration. Reasonable ground exists for believing that A has joined in a conspiracy to wage war against the State. The facts that B procured arms in Europe for the purpose of the conspiracy, C collected money in Kolkata for a like object, D persuaded persons to join the conspiracy in Mumbai, E published writings advocating the object in view at Agra, and F transmitted from Delhi to G at Singapore the money which C had collected at Kolkata, and the contents of a letter written by H giving an account of the conspiracy, are each relevant, both to prove the existence of the conspiracy, and to prove A's complicity in it, although he may have been ignorant of all of them, and although the persons by whom they were done were strangers to him, and although they may have taken place before he joined the conspiracy or after he left it.

Old <-> New Code Mapping

• IEA §10 — Things said or done by conspirator in reference to common design