Cheating:— Deceitful practices, in defrauding or endeavouring to defraud another of his known rights, by means of some artful device, contrary to the plain rules of common honesty.
Whoever, by deceiving any person, fraudulently or dishonestly induces the person so deceived to deliver any property to any person or to consent that any person shall retain any property or intentionally induces the person so deceived to do or omit to do anything which he would not do or omit if he were not so deceived, and which act or omission causes or is likely to cause damage or harm to that person in body, mind, reputation or property, is said to “cheat”, [Section 415, Penal Code, 1860
The main ingredients of the offence of cheating are:
(i) there should be fraudulent or dishonest inducement of a person by deceiving him;
(ii)(a) the person so induced should be intentionally induced to deliver any property to any person or to consent that any person shall retain any property or (b) the person so induced should be intentionally induced to do or to omit to do anything which he would not do or omit if he were not so deceived; and
(iii) in cases covered by the second part of (ii), the act or omission should be one which caused or is likely to cause damage or harm to the person induced in body, mind, reputation or property, Ram Jasv. State of U.P., (1970) 2 SCC 740: 1970 SCC (Cri) 516.
Cheating can be committed in either of the two ways described in Section 415, Indian Penal Code. “Deceiving a person” is common in both the ways of cheating. A person deceived may be fraudulently or dishonestly induced to deliver any property or to consent to the retention of any property by any person. The person deceived may also be intentionally induced to do or to omit to do anything which he would not have done if not deceived and which act of his caused or was likely to cause damage or harm in body, mind, reputation or property, Kanumukkala Krishnamurthy v. State of A.P., AIR 1965 SC 333: (1964) 7 SCR 410: (1965) 1 Cri LJ 355, 357.
Cheating by Personation:—
A person is said to “cheat by personation” if he cheats by pretending to be some other person or by knowingly substituting one person for another or representing that he or any other person is a person other than he or such other person really is. The offence is committed whether the individual personated is a real or imaginary person, [Section 416, Penal Code, 1860 .
Deceit:-
A fraudulent misrepresentation is called deceit and consists in leading a man into damage by wilfully or recklessly causing him to believe and act on falsehood, State of Orissa v. Harapriya Bisoi, (2009) 12 SCC 378.
Fraud, cheat, craft or collusion used to deceive and defraud another.
A fraudulent misrepresentation is called deceit and consists in leading a man into damage by wilfully or recklessly causing him to believe and act on falsehood, State of Orissa v. Harapriya Bisoi, (2009) 12 SCC 378.
“Deceit is a false statement of a fact made by a person knowingly or recklessly with the intent that it shall be acted upon by another who does act upon it and thereby suffers damage”, Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship Co. Ltd. v. Sha Misrimal Bheraji, AIR 1966 SC 1892: 1966 Supp SCR 92.
Deceive:—
It indicates inculcating of one so that he takes the false as true, the unreal as existent, the spurious as genuine, P.M. Natarajan v. Krishna Chandra Gupta, 1974 SCC OnLine All 367, Para 6.
It is to lead into error by causing a person to believe what is false or to disbelieve what is true and such deception may be by words or by conduct, Swami Dhirendra Brahamchari v. Shailendar Bhushan, 1994 SCC OnLine Del 9, Para 11.