Question:medium

Principle: Inducing any animal to move or to change its motion and thereby intentionally causing fear of injury or annoyance to others by such act, is an offence of use of criminal force.
Facts: X incites his dog to chase and run after his neighbour Y, to teach Y to stay away from him. The act is done without neighbour's consent and against his will.

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Actions that cause fear or annoyance, even without physical harm, are considered criminal force if done without consent.
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
  • X has committed no offence
  • X has committed no offence because no harm is caused to Y
  • X has committed no offence because he intended only to put fear in the mind of Y
  • X has committed an offence of use of criminal force
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The Correct Option is D

Approach Solution - 1

Step 1: Understanding the Principle:
Inducing an animal to move or change its motion, intentionally causing fear of injury or annoyance to someone by that act, is treated as the offence of using criminal force.

Step 2: Applying the Principle to the Facts:
X incited his dog to chase his neighbour Y, wanting to scare Y into keeping away, and did this without Y's consent and against his will. This matches the principle's description exactly, since the dog's chase was meant to frighten Y.

Step 3: Evaluating the Other Options:
The principle does not require Y to suffer actual harm, only fear of injury or annoyance, so the absence of physical injury does not clear X. Intending only to frighten Y is not a defence, since causing that fear is the offence itself.

Step 4: Final Answer:
X has committed the offence of use of criminal force, since he deliberately used his dog to cause Y fear without his consent.
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Approach Solution -2

Major premise: inducing an animal to move or change its motion, intentionally causing fear of injury or annoyance to someone, is the offence of using criminal force. Minor premise: X incited his dog to chase Y, without Y's consent and against his will, meaning to frighten Y into staying away. Testing the conclusions:

  1. No offence at all: This conclusion needs some element of the major premise to be missing from the minor premise, but every element, inducing the animal, intention, and resulting fear, is present.
  2. No offence, since no harm caused: This conclusion needs the major premise to require actual injury, but it requires only fear of injury or annoyance, which the chase produced regardless of whether Y was hurt.
  3. No offence, intent was only to frighten: This conclusion needs intending fear to be a defence, but the major premise defines the offence around exactly that intention, so it cannot also excuse it.
  4. Offence of use of criminal force: This follows directly, since the minor premise satisfies every element the major premise sets out.

Only the fourth option is the conclusion the major premise supports once matched against X's deliberate use of the dog in the minor premise.

Therefore, the correct answer is X has committed the offence of use of criminal force.

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