Advanced International Journal for Research

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Mind, Machine, And Mens Rea : Criminal Liability for Actions Mediated by Brain-Computer Interfaces in India

Author(s) Mr. NAGESH KOMATI
Country India
Abstract Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) translate measured neural activity into commands for computers, communication systems and external devices. Their therapeutic and assistive potential is substantial, but their use complicates a foundational premise of criminal law: that prohibited conduct can be attributed to an accused person who acted voluntarily with the mental element required by the offence. A BCI-mediated event may involve a conscious command, an ambiguous or involuntary neural signal, signal-processing error, algorithmic misclassification, device malfunction or malicious third-party interference. The physical execution of a command therefore does not, without more, establish the user's intention or control.
This article examines the problem through the Indian legal framework, with particular attention to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS), the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (BSA), the Constitution of India and the Information Technology Act 2000. It argues that the BNS definition of ‘voluntarily’ in section 2(33) is an under-examined statutory point of entry: it focuses on causing an effect by means intended, or known or reasonably believed likely, to cause it. That definition must be applied to the actual technological chain and cannot be converted into a presumption that a recorded neural signal is a conscious intention. The article also distinguishes the general exception of accident from unsoundness of mind, analyses the constitutional limits on compelled neural interrogation, and explains why admissibility of device records is distinct from the scientific validity of an inference about mens rea.
The article's original contribution is a proposed Neuro-Technological Attribution Test (NTAT), a structured inquiry into (i) the prohibited effect and statutory mental element, (ii) the user's intentional or knowing engagement with the relevant means, (iii) the reliability and operation of the BCI chain, (iv) control and practical capacity to intervene, (v) causation and intervening acts, and (vi) the allocation of responsibility among users and other actors. It further proposes minimum neuro-forensic safeguards for Indian criminal proceedings. The central claim is that criminal liability must rest on legally attributable culpability, not merely on the association between a person's neural data and a machine's output.
Keywords: Brain-computer interface; mens rea; actus reus; voluntariness; Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; neural data; neuro-rights; electronic evidence; criminal attribution; cybercrime.
Keywords Brain-Computer Interface (BCI); Mens Rea; Criminal Liability; Actus Reus; Neurotechnology; Neural Data; Criminal Attribution; Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; Electronic Evidence; Neuro-Rights.
Field Computer > Data / Information
Published In Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2026
Published On 2026-11-06
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