BNSS Section 221: Cognizance of offence (formerly CrPC 198B)

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 · in force from 1 July 2024

BNSS 221: Cognizance of offence

From 1 July 2024

No Court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under section 67 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 where the persons are in a marital relationship, except upon prima facie satisfaction of the facts which constitute the offence upon a complaint having been filed or made by the wife against the husband.

What it replaced in the CrPC

BNSS 221 ← CrPC 198B · Cognizance of offenceNo 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).

No Court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under section 376B of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) where the persons are in a marital relationship, except upon prima facie satisfaction of the facts which constitute the offence upon a complaint having been filed or made by the wife against the husband.]

CrPC 198B on its own page →

Which one applies

Procedure follows the proceeding. Under section 531(2)(a) of the BNSS, an appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation already pending on 1 July 2024 continues under the CrPC; one begun on or after that date proceeds under the BNSS.

Read BNSS section 531 →

Judgments decided under CrPC 198B

They remain the law on CrPC 198B. Where the provision changed in the move, read what changed before relying on one for an offence after 1 July 2024.

Sources

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.