BNS Section 1: Short title, commencement, and application (formerly IPC 1, IPC 2, IPC 3, IPC 4 and IPC 5)
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 · in force from 1 July 2024
BNS 1: Short title, commencement, and application
From 1 July 2024
(1) This Act may be called the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Sanhita.
(3) Every person shall be liable to punishment under this Sanhita and not otherwise for every act or omission contrary to the provisions thereof, of which he shall be guilty within India.
(4) Any person liable, by any law for the time being in force in India, to be tried for an offence committed beyond India shall be dealt with according to the provisions of this Sanhita for any act committed beyond India in the same manner as if such act had been committed within India.
(5) The provisions of this Sanhita shall also apply to any offence committed by—
(a) any citizen of India in any place without and beyond India;
(b) any person on any ship or aircraft registered in India wherever it may be;
(c) any person in any place without and beyond India committing offence targeting a computer resource located in India.
Explanation.—In this section, the word “offence” includes every act committed outside India which, if committed in India, would be punishable under this Sanhita.
Illustration.
A, who is a citizen of India, commits a murder in any place without and beyond India.
He can be tried and convicted of murder in any place in India in which he may be found.
(6) Nothing in this Sanhita shall affect the provisions of any Act for punishing mutiny and desertion of officers, soldiers, sailors or airmen in the service of the Government of India or the provisions of any special or local law.
What it replaced in the IPC
BNS 1(1) ← IPC 1 · Title and extent of operation of the CodeChanged
BPR&D's comparison records a change. Read what changed before relying on the old wording.
What changed, per BPR&D: This subject is covered by six subsections of Section 1 of BNS, corresponding to five separate sections of IPC, sans separate headings thereof. In IPC, the extent of code operation is also given, which is absent in BNS.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
This Act shall be called the Indian Penal Code, and shall [extend to the whole of India [except the State of Jammu and Kashmir]].
BNS 1(3) ← IPC 2 · Punishment of offences committed within IndiaChanged
BPR&D's comparison records a change. Read what changed before relying on the old wording.
What changed, per BPR&D: No change except "Code" is replaced with "Sanhita". Wherever the word “Code” is used in IPC, the word “Sanhita” is used in BNS; therefore, this fact will not be specifically mentioned in this table hereinafter.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
Every person shall be liable to punishment under this Code and not otherwise for every act or omission contrary to the provisions thereof, of which he shall be guilty within [India] ****.
BNS 1(4) ← IPC 3 · Punishment of offences committed beyond, but which by law may be tried within, IndiaChanged
BPR&D's comparison records a change. Read what changed before relying on the old wording.
What changed, per BPR&D: Section is included as a subsection in BNS sans heading. “Indian laws” is replaced with “law" and “for the time being in force in India" is inserted.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
Any person liable, by any [Indian law], to be tried for an offence committed beyond [India] shall be dealt with according to the provisions of this Code for any act committed beyond [India] in the same manner as if such act had been committed within [India].
BNS 1(5) ← IPC 4 · Extension of Code to extra-territorial offencesChanged
BPR&D's comparison records a change. Read what changed before relying on the old wording.
What changed, per BPR&D: Section is included as a subsection in BNS sans heading. In the illustration, "Uganda" has been replaced with "any place outside India."
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
The provisions of this Code apply also to any offence committed by— [(1) any citizen of India in any place without and beyond India;
(2) any person on any ship or aircraft registered in India wherever it may be.] [(3) any person in any place without and beyond India committing offence targeting a computer resource located in India.] [Explanation.—In this section—
(a) the word “offence” includes every act committed outside India which, if committed in India, would be punishable under this Code;
(b) the expression “computer resource” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (k) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);] [Illustration] ***A, [who is [a citizen of India]], commits a murder in Uganda. He can be tried and convicted of of murder in any place in [India] in which he may be found. * * * * *
BNS 1(6) ← IPC 5 · Certain laws not to be affected by this ActDrafting change only
BPR&D's comparison records a change of drafting only, so the substance is the same.
What changed, per BPR&D: IPC section is included as a subsection in BNS sans heading.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
Nothing in this Act shall affect the provisions of any Act for punishing mutiny and desertion of officers, soldiers, sailors or airmen in the service of the Government of India or the provisions of any special or local law.]
New in the BNS, with no IPC counterpart: BNS 1(2).
Which one applies
An offence is governed by the law in force when it was committed. An offence committed before 1 July 2024 is charged and punished under the IPC; one committed on or after that date, under the BNS. Section 358 of the BNS, which repeals the IPC, preserves every liability and proceeding already incurred under it.
Read BNS section 358 →Judgments decided under IPC 1
They remain the law on IPC 1. Where the provision changed in the move, read what changed before relying on one for an offence after 1 July 2024.
Sources
- Correspondence Table and Comparison Summary of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 to the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Bureau of Police Research & Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, page 1.
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: bare Act with Corresponding Section Table, National Crime Records Bureau (Sankalan), page 20.
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860), as amended, India Code, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.
BPR&D is the Bureau of Police Research & Development (Ministry of Home Affairs); NCRB the National Crime Records Bureau. Their correspondence tables are training aids, not law. This page is general information, not legal advice on any case; the bare Acts as published by the Government of India are the authority.