BNS Section 301: Trespassing on burial places, etc (formerly IPC 297)
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 · in force from 1 July 2024
BNS 301: Trespassing on burial places, etc
From 1 July 2024
Whoever, with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or of insulting the religion of any person, or with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted thereby, commits any trespass in any place of worship or on any place of sepulchre, or any place set apart for the performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity to any human corpse, or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
What it replaced in the IPC
BNS 301 ← IPC 297 · Trespassing on burial places, etcNo change
BPR&D's comparison records no change in the text, only a new number.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
Whoever, with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or of insulting the religion of any person or with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted thereby, commits any trespass in any place of worship or on any place of sepulture, or any place set apart for the performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity to any human corpse, or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
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 297
They remain the law on IPC 297. 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 29.
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: bare Act with Corresponding Section Table, National Crime Records Bureau (Sankalan), page 60.
- 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.