Criminal activities : their nature, scope and problems in identification

Any act that is forbidden by the law to perform is committed check this webpage  by any person or any act that is ordered by the law to perform is refused to perform, then such an act or refusal is called a crime. A crime is an unlawful or illegal activity. Such activity, however, can be differentiated either as criminal activity or civil wrong. 

Meaning of criminal activities
There is no proper definition to describe criminal activities. In India, the Indian Penal Code of 1860 (IPC) states the punishment for most criminal offences. The IPC has also not defined criminal activities. However, it has laid down certain facts which can be considered as what can come under the purview of criminal offences. As per Section 40, anything which is punishable by the IPC can be stated as an offence. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1908, also to an extent defines criminal offences. It states that any act or omission which is punishable by any law in force, and also any act on which a complaint is made under Section 20 of the Cattle-Trespass Act, 1871, can be referred to as a crime.

Nature of criminal activity
Certain principles determine the nature of criminal activity. Those principles are:

Crime is either an act or omission of any act on the part of a human being, which is harmful to society at large. Criminal activity must be a public wrong.
The actions taken in criminal activities are always in rem, that is, against the whole world. When any criminal activity is committed, action is taken against the accused by the concerned State or government.
Criminal activities are always punishable by the law. Such acts are prevented by a threat or sanction of punishment administered by the State.
A special legal procedure is followed after the criminal activity is discovered. Usually, in these cases, the accused is taken into custody following the law and investigation begins, trials take place, and eventually, the judgment is delivered.

Scope of criminal activity 
So far, we have got an idea of what can be denoted as criminal activity. However, let us look into the scope of such activities. Under the Indian law, the Code of Criminal Procedure classifies the offences into different categories. It classifies offences into cognizable and non-cognizable offences. 

Cognizable offences can be stated as any such offences where the police can arrest the accused without any warrant. In such offences, the police officer can start the investigation of the case without the permission of the Magistrate. It has been observed that such offences are usually grave and non-bailable. 
On the other hand, non-cognizable offences are those where police cannot arrest the accused without the arrest warrant from the Magistrate. In such offences, the police need to have prior permission from the Magistrate to start the investigation. Such offences are usually less serious and bailable.
Classification of crimes under the IPC is as follows:

Crime against the body – IPC recognizes crime against the body in the form of murder, kidnapping, abduction, hurt, causing death by negligence.
Crime against property – IPC recognizes robbery, theft, dacoity, preparation, and assembly to commit dacoity, burglary as crimes against property.
Crimes against public order – IPC recognizes riots, arson, etc.
Economic crimes – IPC recognizes criminal breach of trust, cheating, counterfeiting, etc.
Crimes against a woman – Rape, assault, dowry death, cruelty by husband and his relatives, etc.
IPC also recognizes crimes against children. For example, kidnapping for slavery, kidnapping from lawful guardianship, procuration for minor girls, etc.
All other crimes mentioned in IPC come under the scope of criminal activity.

Certain special and local Acts also determine criminal activities and give punishments. Some of them are the Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Act, 1985, Arms Act, 1959, the Public Gambling Act, 1867, Excise Act, 1958, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, Indian Railways Act, 1989, Essential Commodities Act, 1955, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, etc.