In the landmark case State of Maharashtra
v. Sunil Kumar (2014) (and similar precedents on criminal intimidation), the Supreme Court established principles regarding the essential ingredients of criminal intimidation under what is now Section 503 of BNS. The Court held that: Which principle regarding criminal intimidation was established in this landmark judgment?

In Supreme Court judgments addressing criminal intimidation (particularly Narender Kumar & Ors v. State (2012) and related case law), the Court established that criminal intimidation encompasses threats to person, reputation, and property. The threat must be communicated with intent to cause alarm or to induce specific conduct. Critically, the test is objective—whether a reasonable person would apprehend harm from the threat—not merely the subjective fear of the victim. The Court clarified that the threat need not result in actual commission of the threatened harm; the threat itself, if credible to a reasonable person, suffices. This principle aligns with Section 503 of BNS.