Wrongful Gain and Wrongful Loss

The phrase "wrongful gain" is broadly defined under Section 23 of the Indian Penal Code as any error, distortion, activity, or exclusion that occurs in any act and is regarded as a violation of the law.

Wrongful gain is when someone obtains something to which they are not lawfully entitled by using illegal means. Contrarily, wrongful loss is the unlawful loss of property to which the person who loses it has a legal claim. Here, the term "wrongful" refers to harming a party's legal rights. The owner of the property must either be unlawfully denied access to it or lose possession of it in order for there to be a wrongful loss or gain.

What is the meaning of Wrongful Gain?

Any type of gain made on property by illegal means that the person making the gain is not legally entitled to is considered wrongful gain. Any type of gain made on property by illegal means that the person making the gain is not legally entitled to is considered wrongful gain. When someone obtains or holds any property improperly, they are accountable for unjust gain. When someone improperly maintains or gains something, it is said that they have gained improperly. When someone is wrongfully denied access to or taken possession of something, they are said to have inadvertently lost that possession.

The case will fall under this description when the owner is prevented from possessing his property with the goal of robbing him of the advantage resulting from the possession, even momentarily.

Illustration

This section describes acquiring anything unlawfully, such as by tricking someone into buying something worth 10 rupees for 50 rupees. Conversely, unjust loss occurs when someone unlawfully takes possession of a person's property, such as when some thugs take Mr. X's bag of jewels.

Ingredients of wrongful gain

The ingredients of wrongful gain are as follows −

There must be gain of sum property

The property to which a person was not legally authorized must be gained

Any such gain must be made by unlawful or illegal means

It is important to keep in mind that the term "wrongful gain" encompasses both the acquisition and retention of property obtained in an improper manner. This implies that a person may be held accountable for both situations in which property has been improperly acquired and improperly retained. Wrongful gain is the term used to describe when someone gets something by illegal means to which they are not lawfully entitled.

Wrongful Gain Associated with Section 24 IPC

Section 24 of the Indian Penal Code defines dishonesty as doing something with the intent to harm another person or obtain something that is not rightfully theirs.

What is the meaning of Wrongful Loss?

Section 23 of the IPC has also established a definition for the crime of wrongful loss. According to Section 23, "wrongful loss" is defined as the unlawful loss of property to which the person who loses it is lawfully entitled. When someone is wrongfully denied access to any property or is wrongfully deprived of it, they are said to have lost unfairly. Wrongful loss refers to when someone who is not the owner of the property loses the property in an improper manner.

Ingredient of Wrongful Loss

Following are the ingredients of wrongful loss −

Loss of some property

The property to which the person losing was legally entitled and

Loss must have been caused by unlawful means

Difference between Wrongful gain and Wrongful loss

The infliction of Wrongful Gain and Wrongful Loss is a crucial component in the crimes of Criminal Breach of Trust, Criminal Misappropriation of Property, Theft, and other similar offenses. The use of illegal methods is a component of both of the two offenses. But the main differences between the two crimes are as follows

In the crime of wrongful gain, the offender gains the property unlawfully; however, in the crime of wrongful loss, the offender wrongfully causes the victim to lose the property.

In the crime of wrongful gain, the offender is not legally entitled to gain the property, whereas in the crime of wrongful loss, the victim is legally entitled over the property losing.

When committing the crime of unlawful gain, the criminal is considered to have gained unfairly both when retaining and when acquiring property. However, under the crime of wrongful loss, the victim is considered to have lost unfairly both when he is unlawfully denied access to any item and when that same thing is wrongfully taken away from him.

Wrongful loss denotes the victim's loss, whereas wrongful gain denotes the offender's gain.

Section 435 to 438 of IPC characterizes mischief by the method adopted to cause wrongful loss or damage. It deals with the remedies provided by IPC in case of damage being caused by fire. These sections are together called offences of Arson.

Major Cases related to Wrongful Gain and Wrongful Loss

According to the Hon'ble Supreme Court's explanation in the case of Kishan Kumar v. Union of India (AIR 1959 SC 1390), "unlawful gain encompasses unjust retention, and wrongful loss includes being kept out of the property as well as being unfairly deprived of property."

The accused had a cash balance of more than Rs. 1,000, but by the 28th of September 1984, all of his money had been spent.As a result, up until the 29th of September 1984, the accused had wrongfully held onto a sum of Rs. 46,907,399, depriving the Mandali of that cash balance because the accused had already used that money for his own purposes by the previous day.

It can also be argued that the Mandali was unfairly deprived of the aforementioned sum up to September 28th, 1984, as the cash balance was not actually in the Mandali's cash box but rather had already been spent by the accused. It is important to remember that on September 29, 1984, there was not a single cent in cash on hand with the defendants. The entire sum of Rs. 46,907,39 was therefore spent by the accused himself before September 29, 1984, and not a single rupee of the Mandali was still in cash on hand with the accused. In order to prove that the accused had a dishonest purpose to use that amount for his personal benefit, the prosecution has presented substantial and convincing evidence.

The Supreme Court has clarified what constitutes unjust gain and wrongful loss. In the instance of a servant accused of stealing his master's property, it was decided that the components of the crime of misappropriation would be shown if the prosecution could show that the servant had received the property for which he was responsible but had failed to do so.

Conclusion

At the end, it can be concluded that it will be deemed an unlawful gain whenever someone acquires anything by dishonest or illegal means, which will be termed a "wrongful gain," and that losing unjustly refers to the loss of property by a person who did so unlawfully or via fraud, which is termed a "wrongful loss."

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What do you understand by "gaining wrongfully" and "losing wrongfully"?

Ans. When someone improperly maintains or gains something, it is said that they have gained improperly. When someone is wrongfully denied access to or takes possession of something, they are said to have inadvertently lost that possession.

Q2. What does a "wrongful act" include?

Ans. The term "wrongful acts" refers to any actual or alleged libel, slander, breach of trust, mistake, omission, misrepresentation, misstatement, or misleading statement, as well as any neglect or breach of duty, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of authority warranty, or other matter asserted against the company.

Q3. When a person does something with the intent of causing harm to another?

Ans. Any action that is "dishonest" is one that is done with the goal of harming another person or gaining an unfair advantage over them.

Q4. Write some examples of wrongful gain?

Ans. When someone acquires anything unlawfully, such as by tricking someone into buying something worth 10 rupees for 50 rupees. Conversely, unjust loss occurs when someone unlawfully takes possession of a person's property, such as when some thugs take Mr. X's bag of jewels.