Indian Penal Code,1860
Act No : 45
Section :
Limit of punishment of offence made up of several offences.
71. Limit of punishment of offence made up of several offences.--Where anything which is an offence is made up of parts, any of whichparts is itself an offence, the offender shall not be punished withthe punishment of more than one of such his offences, unless it be soexpressly provided. 1*[Where anything is an offence falling within two or moreseparate definitions of any law in force for the time being by whichoffences are defined or punished, or where several acts, of which one or more than one would by itselfor themselves constitute an offence, constitute, when combined, adifferent offence, the offender shall not be punished with a more severe punishmentthan the Court which tries him could award for any one of suchoffences]. Illustrations (a) A gives Z fifty strokes with a stick. Here A may havecommitted the offence of voluntarily causing hurt to Z by the wholebeating, and also by each of the blows which make up the wholebeating. If A were liable to punishment for every blow, he might beimprisoned for fifty years, one for each blow. But he is liable onlyto one punishment for the whole beating. (b) But, if, while A is beating Z, Y interferes, and Aintentionally strikes Y, here, as the blow given to Y is no part ofthe act whereby A voluntarily causes hurt to Z, A is liable to onepunishment for voluntarily causing hurt to Z, and to another for theblow given to Y.
