Section 58 addresses the situation where a person, intending to help or knowing they might help the commission of a very serious offence (punishable with death or life imprisonment), voluntarily hides the plan or gives false information about it. It imposes strong punishments depending on whether the offence actually happens or not.
Key Provisions:
- General Rule:
If someone, intending to facilitate or knowing it is likely to facilitate:- Voluntarily conceals, by any act, omission, encryption, or other information-hiding tools, the existence of a plan to commit an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment, or
- Makes any false representation about such a plan,then:
- (a) If the offence is committed:
Punishable with imprisonment of either description (simple or rigorous) up to seven years. - (b) If the offence is not committed:
Punishable with imprisonment of either description up to three years, and fine.
How It Protects:
- Prevents people from assisting grave crimes through concealment or misleading actions.
- Imposes heavy liability even if the crime is not ultimately committed.
- Ensures proactive intervention by making concealment itself a serious offence.
Example:
- A knows that a dacoity (robbery by a gang) is about to happen at location B.
- A falsely informs the Magistrate that the dacoity will happen at location C (opposite direction), thus misleading the authorities.
- As a result, the dacoity at B succeeds.
- A is punishable under Section 58 for concealing the design and misleading intentionally.