Section 126 BNS: Wrongful Restraint (Old IPC 341)

Someone blocks your way, stops your car, or stands at the gate and won't let you pass. Under the IPC that was Section 341. Since 1 July 2024 it is Section 126 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which puts the old definition in IPC 339 and the punishment in IPC 341 into one section.

It is a small offence that turns up in a lot of FIRs. Here is what it means, what changed, how it differs from wrongful confinement, and what happens after a complaint.

What Section 126 says

• 126(1): whoever voluntarily obstructs a person so as to stop them going in a direction they have a right to go wrongfully restrains them.
• The exception: blocking a private path over land or water is not an offence if you honestly believe you have a lawful right to block it.
• 126(2): the punishment is simple imprisonment of up to one month, or a fine of up to five thousand rupees, or both.

The Act's example: A blocks a path Z has a right to use, not believing in good faith that he can. Z can't pass. A has wrongfully restrained Z.

Old IPC sections and their new BNS numbers

The only change is the fine. Acts done before 1 July 2024 are still charged under the IPC, with the old fine. For any other section, the IPC to BNS converter gives the new number and what changed.

What counts as wrongful restraint

Three things have to be there:

1. the accused obstructed the person, on purpose;
2. the obstruction stopped them going in some direction; and
3. they had a right to go that way.

It doesn't need force or touching. Standing in someone's way, parking across a gate, or a show of force that makes them stop can all be enough. It also doesn't matter how long it lasted.

The right to pass is often where these cases turn. Many complaints of restraint come out of a dispute over a common passage or a boundary wall. If the accused honestly believed the path was theirs to close, the exception applies, and the real fight belongs in a civil court, with a suit for a declaration or an injunction. The limitation calculator gives the last date to file one.

Restraint or confinement?

Restraint blocks one direction. Confinement under Section 127, the old IPC 340, keeps a person within fixed limits so they can't leave in any direction: locking them in a room, or posting armed men at the exits. Section 127 is graded by how long and why:

• 127(2): up to one year, or fine up to five thousand rupees, or both;
• 127(3), three days or more: up to three years, or fine up to ten thousand rupees, or both;
• 127(4), ten days or more: up to five years, and a fine of at least ten thousand rupees;
• 127(7) and 127(8), confinement to extort property, a confession or information: up to three years and fine.

The FIR it usually comes in

A quarrel FIR from before July 2024 often read "341, 323, 504, 506 read with 34 IPC". The same FIR today would read:

Our guides to Section 351, criminal intimidation and Section 352, intentional insult cover the other two offences that travel with it.

Complaint, arrest and settlement

Wrongful restraint is cognizable, so the police must register an FIR when you report it. See our guide to filing an FIR under Section 173 BNSS if they refuse. It is also bailable and triable by any Magistrate. Because the maximum is one month, the police should normally issue a notice to appear under Section 35 of the BNSS rather than arrest.

The person restrained can compound the offence without the court's permission under Section 359 of the BNSS, and most of these cases end in a settlement between neighbours or relatives.

Questions people ask

Reading an old FIR that says "341"? The IPC 341 page shows the new section side by side with the old text.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the bare Act and speak to a lawyer about your own case.