Answer
I. Stolen property:
Section 410 defines stolen property as property the possession whereof has been transferred by theft, or by extortion, or by robbery, and property which has been criminally misappropriated or in respect of which criminal breach of trust has ii committed within or without Pakistan. But, if such property
subsequently comes into the possession of a person legally entitled to possession thereof, it then ceases to be stolen property.
2. Receiving stolen property:
According to Section 4 11, the possession of stolen property is not an offence. The essence of the offence of receiving stolen property under Section 411 consists in the receipt or retention of the same with a full knowledge, at the time of receipt that the property was stolen property, viz. obtained in one e ways specified in (a) above. The accused should dishonestly receive or retain the stolen property, knowing or having reason to believe the same to be stolen property. A person is said to be acting dishonestly when he acts with the intention to cause wrongful gain to elf or wrongful loss to another Section 411 lays down that ever dishonestly receives or retains any stolen property knowing or having reason to believe the be stolen property; shall be punished imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine or with both.
The word “believe” in Section 411, P.P.C., is much stranger “suspect” inasmuch as it involves the necessity of showing that the circumstances were such that a reasonable man must have felt convicted in his mind that property with which he was dealing must be stolen property.
3. Dishonest retention and dishonest reception of property:
In dishonest retention dishonestly supervenes after the act of acquisition of possession, while in dishonest reception dishonestly is contemporaneous with the act of such acquisition. To constitute nest retention, there must have been a change in the mental element of possession from an honest to a dishonest condition of the in relation to the thing possessed. A person cannot be convicted of “receiving” if he had no guilty knowledge at the time of receipt. But he is guilty of “retaining” if he subsequently knows or has reason to believe property may be complete without any guilty knowledge at the time of receipt. But in order to support a conviction of dishonestly retaining stolen property, it ought to be shown that the accused, being in innocent possession of the property acquired the knowledge that it was stolen and thereafter retained it dishonestly.
4. House occupied by joint family:
From the mere fact that stolen articles are found in a locked box in a room in the joint occupation and possession of a husband and wife it cannot be said with certainty that the husband knows of the existence of the things and he cannot be convicted of an offence under Section 411 without proof that he was in exclusive possession. In such, a case it cannot be presumed that the possession of the wife is per se the possession of the husband.
Aggravated from of the offence:
The, following are aggravated forms of this offence:-
1. Dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a Dacoity. (S. 412)
2. Habitually dealing in stolen property. (S. 413)
3. Voluntarily assisting in concealing or disposing of or making away with stolen property. (S. 414)