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Section 150: Concealing with Intent to Facilitate Design to Wage War

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita • Chapter VII: Of Offences Against the State & Armed Forces • Official Statutory Text & Legal Guide

Chapter VII: Of Offences Against the State & Armed Forces
Court of Session
Non-Bailable
Cognizable
Formerly Sec 123 IPC
Section 149 All 358 Sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 151

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 150

Section 150 penalizes concealing with intent to facilitate a design to wage war against the Government of India, prescribing imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and fine.

  • Concealment of War Plot: Concealing by any act or illegal omission the existence of a design to wage war against the Government of India.
  • Facilitation Intent: Done intending to facilitate, or knowing it to be likely that such concealment will facilitate, the waging of such war.
  • Severe Inchoate Punishment: Punishable with up to ten years imprisonment (formerly Section 123 IPC).
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • State (NCT of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu (2005) 11 SCC 600: Examined the parameters of facilitating armed attacks on the state under Section 123 IPC (Section 150 BNS), holding that active concealment by harboring suicide squads satisfies the section.
  • Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab (1994) 3 SCC 569: Affirmed that failure to disclose known terrorist war designs constitutes criminal facilitation of state subversion.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In defending an accused charged with harboring insurgent operatives, separate knowledge from passive hosting: if your client had no knowledge that the guests were armed insurgents planning war, the essential mens rea of Section 150 BNS is completely absent.

Section 149 All 358 Sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 151