‘Good Faith’ in Criminal Law

An act to be said to be done in good faith if it is done with the due care and attention. It has been held in Buxsoo Miah Chaudhary case (1938) that absence of good faith means simply carelessness or negligence. If an opinion is expressed with due care and attention, honestly believing it to be true and without malicious motive it is said to have been made in good faith. The General Clauses Act, 1897 defines good faith as “A thing shall be deemed to be done in good faith where it is in fact done honestly, whether it is done negligently or not”. Good faith in the sense of simple and actual belief is not sufficient, the belief must be reasonable, and not an absurd belief. The question of good faith must be considered with reference to the position of the person, whose good faith is in question and the circumstances under which he acted.

Author:
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Pandey, Associate Professor & Director – CCJR, Unitedworld School of Law (UWSL)

Disclaimer: The opinions / views expressed in this article are solely of the author in his / her individual capacity. They do not purport to reflect the opinions and/or views of the College and/or University or its members