I will explain to you in the simplest possible way, the difference between intention and motive.
Intention is the act that you want to do and motive is the reason behind this act. In other words the reason behind this intention.
Let’s consider some examples, that will make it clear.
Example 1 : Where the intention is to kill and motive is revenge.
Intention : Ramesh buys a gun to kill his neighbour’s dog.
Motive : The dog is quite aggressive and has been causing trouble to Ramesh and all those people who come to his house. He has asked his neighbour to control his dog but all these pleas fell to deaf year. Finally Ramesh lost his patience when the dog bit Ramesh’s child and still his neighbour did nothing. Finally, Ramesh decided to take matter into his hands and settle the matter once and for all all by killing the dog.
Example 2 : Where intention is to hurt and motive is repressed anger.
Intention : Sujata spill oil on the floor outside Rita’s door. She knew that when Rita would open the door to come out, she will slip over the oily floor and fall down.
Motive : Rita has been body shaming Sujata for quite a long time. Sujata is around 100 Kg and this constant body shaming is causing her immense hurt. She wants to pay back.
Let us understand that revenge could not be the only motive. A criminal act may be perpetrated by a good motive as well. Let us consider the following example.
Example 3 : Where Intention is criminal but Motive is good.
Intention : Rama, who works as a cashier in a cooperative bank, stole 2 lakh rupees from the petty cash box.
Motive : Rama’s mother is in a critical medical condition and needs to be operated urgently. He asked several people for money, but nobody helped him. Finally he has to steal money from the bank to pay for his mother’s medical expenses.
We see here that the motive of Rama is good (he wants to save his mother’s life), but his intention is criminal (he wants to steal money).
Example 4 : Where the motive is religious beliefs
Intention : Uttam has gathered a team to beat up the Christian missionary workers.
Motive : Uttam belongs to a right wing Hindu organisation and he and his team members believe that a Christian missionary is trying to convert the local Hindus. He wants to protect his religion.
I think, by now, you have pretty much understood the difference between intention and motive. So, let’s get deeper into the legal scenario.
In the legal scenario, intention must be established but motive is not necessary to establish. If a person kills another person with the intention of killing and the evidence proves it, the prosecution is not under the compulsion to establish the motive. In other words, the prosecution doesn’t need to prove the reason behind the murder.
The establishment of intention is enough to prove the culpability of the defendant. If the defendant fired a gun with the intention of killing then the guilt is established. Motive is no longer needed to establish the guilt. Neither can the defendant pleat not-guilty in the absence of motive.
Sometimes, motive isn’t even necessary for the intention for committing a crime. Consider the example below.
A man fires a gun in a cinema hall in an arbitrary direction. The bulled killed a child who was sitting with her parents, somewhere in the middle row. When the accused was aske about his intention, he said that he didn’t want to kill anybody. He just fired out of excitement which resulted in the death of a person.
Here the defendant will be charged under Section 105 of BNS for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, because this was an act of recklessness and the defendant knew that this could result in the death of any of the people present in the cinema hall. The prosecution doesn’t need to establish the motive here. The intention to fire a gun in a public place, to could lead to someone’s death is enough to sentence him.
I would suggest you to go through various case studies and find out the impact of intention and motive on the sentences delivered. This itself would be an enlightening exercise.
