‘A’ has consensual sexual relations with ‘Z’s wife. She gives to ‘A’ a valuable property which ‘A’ knows to belong to her husband ‘Z’ and she has no authority from ‘Z’ to give.’A’ takes the property dishonestly. Which one of the following offences has been committed by ‘A’?

The correct answer is (a) Criminal breach of trust.

Criminal breach of trust is an offence under Section 405 of the Indian Penal Code. It is committed when a person who is entrusted with property dishonestly misappropriates or converts it to his own use or dishonestly uses it or disposes of it in violation of any direction of law prescribing the mode in which it is to be dealt with or of any lawful contract, express or implied, with reference to it.

In the given case, A has consensual sexual relations with Z’s wife. She gives to A a valuable property which A knows to belong to her husband Z and she has no authority from Z to give. A takes the property dishonestly. In this case, A has been entrusted with the property by Z’s wife. He has dishonestly misappropriated the property by taking it for himself. Therefore, A has committed the offence of criminal breach of trust.

The other options are incorrect because they do not accurately describe the facts of the case. Option (b), Theft and criminal breach of trust, is incorrect because A has not committed the offence of theft. Theft is committed when a person dishonestly takes movable property out of the possession of another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it. In the given case, A has not taken the property out of Z’s possession. Option (c), Theft, is incorrect for the same reason. Option (d), Criminal misappropriation, is incorrect because A has not misappropriated the property in the sense of using it for his own benefit without any right to do so. He has taken the property dishonestly, but he has not used it for his own benefit.