Punjab and Haryana High Court: To establish offence of mischief, there must be intention to cause loss and deduction caused must result in loss of value of property

The Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case Gurmail Singh v. State of Punjab and another observed and has stated that to establish the offence of mischief under Section 425 of Indian Penal Code, IPC there must be an intention to cause damage to property and that should result in diminishing its value.

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The bench headed by Justice Manisha Batra in the case stated that, 'It being clear that the main ingredient of offence of mischief is that there must be intent to cause wrongful loss or damage to the property and with that intent, destruction and damage should be caused resulting in diminishing the value or utility of some property, therefore, the mere causing of loss is not enough and criminal intention to cause such loss should also be established. In the instant case, however, there are bald allegations in the complaint that the petitioner had set the paddy waste or stubble on fire without producing any material on record to show so.'