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Section 104: Murder by Life-Convict

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita • Chapter VI: Of Offences Affecting the Human Body • Official Statutory Text & Legal Guide

Chapter VI: Of Offences Affecting the Human Body
Court of Session
Non-Bailable
Cognizable
Formerly Sec 303 IPC
Section 103 All 358 Sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 105

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 104

Section 104 penalizes murder committed by a person under sentence of imprisonment for life, providing that whoever commits murder while undergoing life imprisonment shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life, which shall mean the remainder of that person's natural life.

  • Life-Convict Murder Baseline: Applies to persons already undergoing a sentence of imprisonment for life who commit murder within or outside prison.
  • Discretionary Capital Punishment: Statutory reform: unlike former Section 303 IPC which made death mandatory, Section 104 BNS gives judicial discretion between death and natural life imprisonment, curing constitutional invalidity.
  • Natural Life Incarceration: Alternative sentence of imprisonment for life strictly means incarceration for the remainder of natural life without executive remission.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Mithu v. State of Punjab (1983) 2 SCC 277: A Constitution Bench struck down Section 303 IPC as unconstitutional, holding that mandatory death penalty violates Articles 14 and 21; Section 104 BNS remedies this defect by restoring judicial sentencing discretion.
  • Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab (1980) 2 SCC 684: Reaffirmed that capital sentencing requires judicial balancing of mitigating circumstances even for convicted prisoners.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In defending a life convict accused of prison homicide under Section 104 BNS, lead psychiatric records, solitary confinement trauma, and sudden prison scuffles to mitigate against the death penalty, establishing that the case does not fall within the 'rarest of rare' threshold.

Section 103 All 358 Sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 105