A makes an attempt to pick the pocket of Z by thrusting his hand into Z's pocket. A fails in the attempt in consequence of Z having nothing in his pocket. A is guilty of

This scenario is a direct application of Illustration (a) to Section 511 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Section 511 provides for the punishment of attempts to commit offences punishable with imprisonment.

According to the illustration, A is guilty of an attempt to commit theft because they performed an act toward the commission of the offence (thrusting the hand into the pocket) with the intent to steal, even though the completion of the theft was impossible due to the pocket being empty. Theft (Option A) is not the correct answer because the actual moving of property did not occur. Since a criminal act was performed with intent, it is an offence (ruling out Option C). Option D is incorrect as 'using force' is not the primary legal classification for this specific attempt under the IPC.