Wednesday, June 12, 2019

What is "moral turpitude"?

What is  "moral turpitude"?
 IPC Sections 153A, 295 & 295Ais being invoked to  book every  tom Dick and  Harry by the  Indian police  which seems to be  doing  no crime fighting  but  seems very alert to book journalists,artists,social reformers and  thinkers.
one word/phrase which is used abundantly in IPC which is mostly a  carbon copy ( the present  generation may not even know what a carbon paper/carbon copy is ) i use this because n when they copied it there were no photo copy machines  ,scanners,digital cameras.

so let us understand this  nebulous concept  of  Moral turpitude.
The term "moral turpitude" evades definition.How come it is still being used in legal language ?
Although the term "moral turpitude" evades definition
"dated terms that were once in common parlance"

 In common parlance 'moral turpitude' means baseness of character. Concise Oxford Dictionary defines 'moral' — 'Concerned with goodness or badness of character or disposition or with distinction between right and wrong.....virtuous in general conduct..... 'Turpitude' means "baseness" depravity, wickedness". Thus any act which is contrary to good morals from society's point of view will come within the ambit of 'moral turpitude'. "The term "moral turpitude" is rather vague one and it may have different meaning in different contents. The term has generally been taken to mean to be a conduct contrary to justice, honesty, modesty or good morals and contrary to what a man owes to a fellow-man or to society in general. It has never been held that gravity Of punishment is to be considered in determining whether the misconduct involves moral turpitude or not" .1 Act of killing a person is normally attributed to a feeling of hurt or revenge; an act of personal vendetta, Per se an act of murder will not come within the broad concept of 'moral turpitude' as interpreted by courts.

moral turpitude. It is vague term, and its meaning depends to some extent on the state of public morals, it is anything which is done contrary to justice, honesty, principle, or good morals, an act of baseness, vileness, or depravity in the private and social duties which a man owes to his fellow man, or to society in general, contrary to the accepted and customary rule of right and duty between man and man, it implies something immoral in itself, regardless of fact whether it is punishable by law. 

how do these legal minds  get so cluttered is beyond my comprehension.

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