Say the ratio out loud before you open Reasoning — recalling it unprompted is exactly what the exam pays for.
Why this pair matters
Attempt (Unit 5) has one hard question — when does preparation become a punishable attempt? Malkiat Singh answers it from the preparation side (a locus poenitentiae — room to withdraw — means preparation only); Mohd. Yakub answers it from the attempt side (the act need not be the last act). Read together with Abhayanand Mishra, they are the complete authority on the line.
Malkiat Singh — facts and holding
A truck carrying paddy was stopped at Samalkha, 32 miles from Delhi and about 15 miles from the Punjab–Delhi boundary. The question was whether the accused were attempting to export paddy out of Punjab in breach of a control order. Held: no attempt — only preparation. Ramaswami J's test: "whether the overt acts already done are such that if the offender changes his mind and does not proceed further in its progress, the acts already done would be completely harmless." On the facts, the driver could have been warned he had no licence and turned back anywhere between Samalkha and the boundary; because that room to repent remained, the acts were preparation, not attempt.
Mohd. Yakub — facts and holding
Acting on secret information, excise officers intercepted a jeep and a truck carrying 43 silver ingots (about 1,312 kg, worth ~₹8 lakh) to a coastal place near Bassein, where the silver was to be loaded onto a waiting vessel and smuggled out of India. The accused were charged with attempting to smuggle in breach of the Customs and export laws. Held: attempt made out. Sarkaria J: the act constituting an attempt "need not be the penultimate act towards the commission of the offence. It is sufficient if such act or acts were deliberately done, and manifest a clear intention to commit the offence, being reasonably proximate to the consummation of the offence." Carrying the silver to the shore, near the waiting boat, was reasonably proximate — an attempt, though the ingots were never loaded.
The ratio, together
- Malkiat Singh: if, at the point reached, the offender could still abandon the enterprise and leave everything harmless, it is preparation — the locus poenitentiae test.
- Mohd. Yakub: the attempt begins with an act reasonably proximate to the offence, done with the intention to commit it; it need not be the last act before completion. Both approve Abhayanand Mishra's formula — "attempt begins where preparation ends."
Put the two side by side and the line is clear: an act that still leaves a genuine chance of harmless withdrawal is preparation; an act that is proximate to the offence and manifests a settled intention to commit it is attempt.
Under the BNS
The general law of attempt is now s. 62. Both tests carry over unchanged. Cite the trio — Malkiat Singh (locus poenitentiae), Mohd. Yakub (not the penultimate act), Abhayanand Mishra ("entered the realm of attempt") — as the complete statement of the preparation/attempt boundary.
In the app
The analysis continues in the app with Exam use — how to write this case into an answer and Viva use — how to speak to it in a viva, plus every card and question built on this case.