Aaliya Shyju, His Highness Maharaja's Government Law College, Ernakulam
ABSTRACT
Insanity in law as a defence calls for the accused to prove that there existed legal insanity at the time of commission of a crime. Legal insanity, essentially, is medical insanity with loss of reasoning power at the time of commission of act. The point of emphasis in a plea of insanity is the time during which an act occurred. Insanity before or after the occurrence of the incident does not constitute legal insanity. Legal and medical insanity, plea of insanity, burden of proof and so on are all defined under Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Just because a person is mentally ill, it does not automatically exonerate them. It is up to the accused to prove that they are legally insane and until it is proven so they are presumed to be sane in the eyes of law and will be held responsible for their acts.
Keywords: Legal insanity, medical insanity, plea of insanity, Section 84 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), burden of proof, McNaughton's Rule.
