Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Presumption of culpable mental state.- In any prosecution for an offence under this Act which requires a culpable Page 176 of 217 mental state on the part of the accused, the court shall presume the existence of such mental state but it shall be a defence for the accused to prove the fact that he had no such mental state with respect to the act charged as an offence in that prosecution. Explanation.- For the purposes of this section,- (i) the expression “culpable mental state” includes intention, motive, knowledge of a fact, and belief in, or reason to believe, a fact; (ii) a fact is said to be proved only when the court believes it to exist beyond reasonable doubt and not merely when its existence is established by a preponderance of probability.