(1) Whoever voluntarily obstructs any person so as to prevent that person from proceeding in any direction in which that person has a right to proceed, is said wrongfully to restrain that person.
Exception — —The obstruction of a private way over land or water which a person in good faith believes himself to have a lawful right to obstruct, is not an offence within the meaning of this section.
Illustrations
A obstructs a path along which Z has a right to pass,A not believing in good faith that he has a right to stop the path. Z is thereby prevented from passing. A wrongfully restrains Z.
(2) Whoever wrongfully restrains any person shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 126
Section 126 defines and penalizes Wrongful Restraint, providing that whoever voluntarily obstructs any person so as to prevent that person from proceeding in any direction in which that person has a right to proceed, wrongfully restrains that person, punishable with imprisonment up to one month, or fine up to five thousand rupees, or both.
In road-block or village boundary disputes where your client blocked a pathway across their own agricultural field under a claim of private ownership, invoke the Section 126 BNS Exception: an honest assertion of private land rights excludes criminal restraint.