Whoever makes any gesture, or any preparation intending or knowing it to be likely that such gesture or preparation will cause any person present to apprehend that he who makes that gesture or preparation is about to use criminal force to that person, is said to commit an assault.
Explanation — —Mere words do not amount to an assault. But the words which a person uses may give to his gestures or preparation such a meaning as may make those gestures or preparations amount to an assault.
Illustrations
(a) Ashakes his fist at Z, intending or knowing it to be likely that he may thereby cause Z to believe that A is about to strike Z. A has committed an assault.
(b) A begins to unloose the muzzle of a ferocious dog, intending or knowing it to be likely that he may thereby cause Z to believe that he is about to cause the dog to attack Z. A has committed an assault upon Z.
(c) Atakes up a stick, saying to Z, “I will give you a beating”. Here, though the words used byAcould in no case amount to an assault, and though the mere gesture, unaccompanied by any other circumstances, might not amount to an assault, the gesture explained by the words may amount to an assault.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 130
Section 130 provides the statutory definition of 'Assault', establishing that whoever makes any gesture, or any preparation, intending or knowing it to be likely that such gesture or preparation will cause any person present to apprehend that they are about to use criminal force to that person, is said to commit an assault.
When defending against assault charges, argue that there was no physical gesture: if the parties merely exchanged heated verbal abuses over the phone or across a locked boundary without physical proximity or gestures, Section 130 BNS assault is legally impossible.