Section 1 BNS: Short Title, Commencement and Application (Formerly Sections 1-4 IPC)

Section 1 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: Short Title, Commencement and Application

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

(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.

Illustrations

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.

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 1

Section 1 establishes the short title, date of commencement, and comprehensive territorial and extra-territorial application of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, modernizing and replacing the Indian Penal Code of 1860.

Territorial Sovereignty: Applies to every person committing any act or omission contrary to the provisions of the Sanhita within the whole of India, including territorial waters.
Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction: Extends to Indian citizens committing offences anywhere in the world, persons on Indian-registered ships or aircraft, and any person targeting digital or computer resources located in India.
Substantive Criminal Baseline: Constitutes the primary substantive penal code for criminal prosecutions initiated in India from July 1, 2024.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Mobarik Ali Ahmed v. State of Bombay (AIR 1957 SC 857): The Supreme Court held that the penal code applies to foreigners committing crimes in India through agents or electronic correspondence, affirming that physical presence in India at the time of the offence is not necessary if the crime is consummated within Indian territory.
Fatima Riswana v. State (2005) 1 SCC 582: Affirmed that extraterritorial offences committed by Indian citizens abroad are triable in India with the prior sanction of the Central Government under procedural provisions.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In cybercrime and cross-border commercial fraud prosecutions where the accused operated from overseas servers, invoke Section 1(5) BNS: if the targeted computer resource, bank server, or data repository was located within India, Indian courts possess complete subject-matter and territorial jurisdiction.

Section 1: Short Title, Commencement and Application

Section 1 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: Short Title, Commencement and Application

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 1