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Section 142: Wrongfully Concealing or Keeping in Confinement Kidnapped Person

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 by which kidnapping triable
Non-Bailable
Cognizable
Formerly Sec 368 IPC
Section 141 All 358 Sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 143

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 142

Section 142 penalizes wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement any person, knowing that that person has been kidnapped or abducted, prescribing the same punishment as if the offender had kidnapped or abducted that person with the same intent.

  • Harboring Kidnapped Victims: Concealing or holding a kidnapped person in a safe house, farm, or secret apartment.
  • Knowledge of Abduction: The harborer must know with certainty that the person was kidnapped or abducted.
  • Parity with Kidnappers: Punished in the exact same manner as the principal kidnapper (formerly Section 368 IPC).
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • State of Haryana v. Rajinder Singh (1996) 8 SCC 418: The Supreme Court held that under Section 368 IPC (Section 142 BNS), the prosecution must prove that the accused knew the victim was kidnapped; holding someone without knowledge of their kidnapped status is not punishable under this section.
  • Prakash v. State of Karnataka (2014) 12 SCC 133: Affirmed that safe-house keepers knowingly guarding abducted victims share equal culpability with kidnappers.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In defending property owners or relatives who allowed someone to stay in their guest room, prove absence of knowledge: establish that your client was told the guest was a paying boarder or distant relative and had no knowledge of any abduction, securing acquittal under Section 142 BNS.

Section 141 All 358 Sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 143