Indian Penal Code, 1860
& Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Fifty-seven chapter notes covering the Code end-to-end — general principles, offences against the State and public order, the body and gender, property and documents, and marriage and reputation. Every chapter dual-anchors the IPC section to its BNS counterpart. Section first, ingredients second, leading case third.
From the 1860 Code to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Substantive criminal law is built on element-by-element analysis. Actus reus, mens rea, statutory exceptions, punishment, cognizability, bailability — every offence collapses into these six dimensions. Macaulay's 1860 Code structured this analysis for one hundred and sixty-three years. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, notified on 1 July 2024, retains most of that structure, renumbers the offences, and adds a small but important tier of new offences for the modern threat landscape.
These notes dual-anchor every chapter: the IPC section and the BNS counterpart appear on the same opening line, because the prelims and mains papers from 2024 onward expect both citations. Where the BNS has changed the rule — community service as a sentence, organised crime, mob lynching, snatching, hit-and-run with failure to report, sexual intercourse by deceitful means, the Section 152 replacement of sedition — the change is flagged and explained. Old case law (Virsa Singh, K.M. Nanavati, Reg v. Govinda, Bachan Singh) is restated in BNS terms; its doctrine continues to bind.
Each chapter is designed to be read in twelve to fifteen minutes and to leave the reader with the dual statutory anchor, the definition verbatim and reformulated, the ingredients the prosecution must prove, the exceptions, the punishment with cognizability and bailability, and the distinctions from cognate offences that prelims rewards.
All 57 chapters, in 8 groups
Sequenced through the natural classification of the IPC and BNS — from general principles through state, body, property, to wrap-up.Foundations & Definitions
Sections 1–75 IPC + Chapter II BNS — the Code's setup
Before any offence makes sense. The Code's history and IPC→BNS transition, intra-territorial and extra-territorial reach, the forty-plus statutory definitions, the kinds of punishment, and the new community-service sentence introduced by the BNS.
Introduction — History, Scheme, IPC→BNS Transition
How the 1860 Code was built, the doctrines it imported from English common law, and what the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 carries forward, modifies, and adds.
IPC · 02Extent and Application
Section 1–4 — the Code's intra-territorial reach across the whole of India and its extra-territorial operation under Section 4 over Indian citizens abroad.
IPC · 03General Definitions and Explanations
Sections 6–52 IPC / Section 2 BNS — the interpretive backbone: act, omission, voluntarily, dishonestly, fraudulently, document, public servant, and forty other defined terms.
IPC · 04Of Punishments — Kinds, Solitary Confinement, Fines
Sections 53–75 IPC / Chapter II BNS — the five kinds of punishment, the solitary-confinement limits, fines and their enforcement, and enhanced punishment for repeat offenders.
BNS · 05Community Service as Sentence
BNS innovation — the new sixth kind of punishment introduced for petty offences, the offences for which it is available, and the procedure for monitoring compliance.
General Principles of Criminal Liability
Sections 76–120B + Section 511 / Section 62 BNS
The doctrines that cut across every offence. Mistake of fact, judicial acts, necessity, infancy, insanity under M'Naghten, intoxication, consent, the right of private defence of body and property, abetment, criminal conspiracy, and the proximity test for attempt.
General Exceptions
Sections 76–106 IPC — mistake of fact, judicial acts, accident, necessity, infancy, insanity (M'Naghten under Section 84), intoxication, consent, and the trifle exception.
IPC · 07Right of Private Defence
Sections 96–106 IPC — the right of defence of body and property, the conditions of imminent threat, proportionality, and the six occasions justifying causing death.
IPC · 08Abetment — Definition, Kinds, Liability
Sections 107–120 IPC / Chapter IV BNS — abetment by instigation, conspiracy, intentional aiding, and the rules on liability when the act abetted is or is not committed.
IPC · 09Criminal Conspiracy
Sections 120A–120B IPC — the agreement-plus-overt-act formula, the post-1913 expansion, the proof rules under Section 10 Evidence Act, and the Mohammad Usman test.
IPC · 10Attempt to Commit Offence
Section 511 IPC / Section 62 BNS — the proximity test, the locus poenitentiae rule, the four-stage scheme of intention–preparation–attempt–commission.
State, Public Order & Organised Crime
Sections 121–229 IPC + Sections 111–113 BNS
Offences that target the State and the public realm. Waging war and sedition, the new Section 152 BNS, offences relating to the armed forces, public tranquillity, public servants, elections, contempts of authority, false evidence, and the BNS innovations on organised crime, petty organised crime, and terrorism.
Offences Against the State — Waging War, Sedition
Sections 121–130 IPC — waging war against the Government, sedition under Section 124A as it stood before BNS, and the Kedar Nath Singh test for incitement.
BNS · 12Offences Endangering Sovereignty, Unity and Integrity
BNS innovation — Section 152 BNS, the provision that replaces Section 124A IPC sedition with a narrower formulation centred on sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.
IPC · 13Offences Relating to Army, Navy and Air Force
Sections 131–140 IPC — abetment of mutiny, desertion, harbouring deserters, and the wearing of garb or token used by soldiers or sailors with intent to deceive.
IPC · 14Offences Against Public Tranquillity
Sections 141–160 IPC — unlawful assembly, common object, rioting, affray, and the vicarious liability of every member of an unlawful assembly under Section 149.
IPC · 15Offences by or Relating to Public Servants
Sections 161–171 IPC — public-servant taking gratification, abetment by public servant, disobedience to direction of law, and the framing-of-incorrect-document offences.
IPC · 16Offences Relating to Elections
Sections 171A–171I IPC — bribery, undue influence, personation at elections, false statements about candidates, and the failure to keep election accounts.
IPC · 17Contempts of Lawful Authority of Public Servants
Sections 172–190 IPC — absconding to avoid summons, refusing to answer, false statements on oath, threats and obstruction to a public servant, and the Section 188 disobedience.
IPC · 18False Evidence and Offences Against Public Justice
Sections 191–229 IPC — perjury, fabricating false evidence, intentional insult or interruption to a public servant, and the offences relating to false personation in court.
BNS · 30Organised Crime
BNS innovation — Section 111 BNS, the new offence covering syndicates, continuing unlawful activity, economic offences, kidnapping for ransom, and contract killing.
BNS · 31Petty Organised Crime
BNS innovation — Section 112 BNS, the offence for organised pickpocketing, snatching gangs, ticket-tout rackets, and other small-scale community-targeting crime.
BNS · 32Terrorist Act
BNS innovation — Section 113 BNS, the new general-law terrorism offence with overlapping and parallel application to the UAPA, including the punishment of death or life imprisonment.
Public Health, Safety, Decency & Religion
Sections 230–298 IPC — offences against the public good
Counterfeiting and stamp offences, weights and measures, public nuisance, negligent acts likely to spread disease, rash driving, obscene acts, adulteration of food and drugs, and offences relating to religion and places of worship.
Offences Relating to Coin and Government Stamps
Sections 230–263A IPC — counterfeiting, possession of counterfeit material, fraudulent diminishing of weight or alteration, and the corresponding stamp offences.
IPC · 20Offences Relating to Weights and Measures
Sections 264–267 IPC — fraudulent use of false instrument for weighing, false weight or measure, and the sale of articles by false weight or measure.
IPC · 21Offences Affecting Public Health, Safety, Decency
Sections 268–294 IPC — public nuisance, negligent acts likely to spread disease, fouling of water of a public spring, rash driving, and obscene acts in public place.
IPC · 22Offences Relating to Religion
Sections 295–298 IPC — injuring or defiling place of worship, deliberate insult to religious feelings, disturbance of religious assembly, and trespass on burial places.
IPC · 51Offences Against Public Health — Adulteration
Sections 272–276 IPC — adulteration of food or drink intended for sale, sale of noxious food, adulteration of drugs, and the parallel framework under the Food Safety Standards Act.
Homicide, Hurt & Confinement
Sections 299–358 IPC + Sections 100–106 BNS — the body
The most heavily litigated cluster. Culpable homicide and murder, the four clauses of Section 300, the five exceptions including grave and sudden provocation, hurt and grievous hurt, wrongful restraint, wrongful confinement, criminal force, assault, and the BNS additions of mob lynching and hit-and-run with failure to report.
Culpable Homicide and Murder
Sections 299–311 IPC — the threshold doctrines of culpable homicide and murder, the mens rea differential, and the four clauses of Section 300 IPC / Section 101 BNS.
IPC · 24Distinction between Culpable Homicide and Murder
The fine line between Section 299 and Section 300 — Reg v. Govinda, the four-clause analysis, and the practical use of the Virsa Singh test under Section 300 thirdly.
IPC · 25Exceptions to Murder
The five exceptions in Section 300 IPC — grave and sudden provocation (K.M. Nanavati), private defence excess, public servant exceeding authority, sudden fight, and consent.
IPC · 26Hurt and Grievous Hurt
Sections 319–338 IPC — hurt, the eight categories of grievous hurt, voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons, by means of poison, and by acid attack.
IPC · 27Wrongful Restraint and Wrongful Confinement
Sections 339–348 IPC — restraint as preventing a person from proceeding, confinement as keeping within circumscribed limits, and the aggravated forms.
IPC · 28Criminal Force and Assault
Sections 349–358 IPC — criminal force as the use of force to commit an offence, assault as the threat of such force, and the aggravated forms involving public servants and women.
BNS · 52Mob Lynching
BNS innovation — Section 103(2) BNS, the new aggravated form of murder when committed by a group of five or more on grounds of race, caste, sex, language, or personal belief.
BNS · 54Hit-and-Run with Failure to Report
BNS innovation — Section 106(2) BNS, the new offence applying to a driver who causes death by rash or negligent act and fails to report to a police officer or magistrate immediately.
Sexual & Gender-Based Offences
Sections 354A–376, 498A, 304B IPC + Sections 63–73 BNS
Offences in which the body is the site and gender often the motive. Kidnapping, abduction, slavery, rape and aggravated rape, sexual harassment, voyeurism, stalking, sexual intercourse by deceitful means under Section 69 BNS, the post-Navtej narrowing of Section 377, cruelty under Section 498A, and dowry death.
Kidnapping, Abduction, Slavery, Forced Labour
Sections 359–374 IPC — kidnapping from India, kidnapping from lawful guardianship, abduction with criminal intent, and the trafficking and forced-labour offences.
IPC · 33Sexual Offences — Rape, Aggravated Rape
Sections 375–376 IPC / Sections 63–73 BNS — the seven circumstances constituting rape, the absence of consent, marital rape exception, and the aggravated rape categories.
IPC · 34Sexual Harassment, Voyeurism, Stalking
Sections 354A–354D IPC — physical contact with sexual overtures, demand for sexual favours, showing pornography, voyeurism, and stalking as a cognizable offence.
BNS · 35Sexual Intercourse by Deceitful Means
BNS innovation — Section 69 BNS, the new offence covering sexual intercourse by deceitful means including a false promise to marry, employment, or promotion.
IPC · 36Unnatural Offences — Section 377 Post-Navtej
The narrowed scope of Section 377 IPC after Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018) — what remains criminal (bestiality, non-consensual acts) and what stands decriminalised.
IPC · 37Cruelty and Dowry Death
Sections 498A and 304B IPC — cruelty by husband or relatives, the seven-year window for dowry death, the presumption under Section 113B Evidence Act, and recent SC clarifications.
Property, Documents & Cheating
Sections 378–489E IPC + Section 304 BNS — the property cluster
Theft, extortion, robbery and dacoity, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust by bankers and public servants, receiving stolen property, cheating under Section 420, fraudulent deeds, mischief, criminal trespass and house-breaking, forgery, and the new BNS offence of snatching.
Theft
Sections 378–382 IPC — the five-element test, dishonest intention, movable property, taking out of possession, without consent, and the aggravated forms involving dwelling houses.
IPC · 42Extortion
Sections 383–389 IPC — putting any person in fear of injury, dishonestly inducing delivery of property, the distinction from theft and robbery, and the aggravated forms.
IPC · 43Robbery and Dacoity
Sections 390–402 IPC — robbery as theft or extortion plus violence, dacoity as robbery by five or more, and the substantive offences of belonging to a gang and being prepared.
IPC · 44Misappropriation and Criminal Breach of Trust
Sections 403–409 IPC — dishonest misappropriation of property, criminal breach of trust by carrier, banker, agent, or public servant, and the entrustment requirement.
IPC · 45Receiving Stolen Property
Sections 410–414 IPC — what counts as stolen property, dishonestly receiving or retaining, habitual dealing in stolen property, and the burden of proof under Section 114 Evidence Act.
IPC · 46Cheating
Sections 415–420 IPC — the deception requirement, fraudulent or dishonest inducement, the Section 415 illustrations, and the aggravated cheating under Section 420.
IPC · 47Fraudulent Deeds and Dispositions
Sections 421–424 IPC — dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property to prevent distribution among creditors, and the fraudulent execution of a deed.
IPC · 48Mischief
Sections 425–440 IPC — the wrongful loss or damage requirement, the various aggravated forms by fire or explosive, mischief affecting irrigation works, and the Section 440 mens rea threshold.
IPC · 49Criminal Trespass — House-Trespass, House-Breaking
Sections 441–462 IPC — criminal trespass with intent to commit offence, house-trespass, house-breaking by night, and the lurking-house-trespass aggravation.
IPC · 50Forgery — Documents and Property Marks
Sections 463–489E IPC — making a false document, forgery for the purpose of cheating, using as genuine a forged document, and the property-mark and currency-note offences.
BNS · 53Snatching
BNS innovation — Section 304 BNS, the new offence distinguishing snatching from theft and robbery, requiring sudden or quick or forcible seizure of any movable property.
Marriage, Reputation & Wrap-Up
Sections 493–510 IPC + cross-cutting + reference
The remaining personal-domain offences and the wrap-up material. Bigamy and the pre-Joseph Shine adultery framework, defamation, criminal intimidation, the Section 34 versus Section 149 distinction on constructive liability, the row-by-row IPC↔BNS correspondence table, and the landmark Constitution Bench cases.
Offences Relating to Marriage
Sections 493–498 IPC — bigamy, fraudulent marriage ceremony, adultery as it stood before Joseph Shine v. Union of India struck it down, and enticement of a married woman.
IPC · 39Defamation
Sections 499–502 IPC — the imputation requirement, the ten exceptions, the difference between civil and criminal defamation, and the Subramanian Swamy challenge.
IPC · 40Criminal Intimidation, Insult, Annoyance
Sections 503–510 IPC — criminal intimidation, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, misconduct in public by a drunken person, and the Section 509 word-or-gesture offence.
IPC · 55Common Intention vs Common Object
Section 34 vs Section 149 IPC — the prior meeting of minds requirement, active participation, the unlawful-assembly threshold of five, and the rules on constructive liability.
REF · 56Comparative Table — IPC ↔ BNS Section Mapping
Row-by-row mapping of every IPC section to its BNS counterpart with substantive change flags — the reference page for the renumbering during the 2024 transition.
REF · 57Landmark Cases — Macchi Singh, Bachan Singh, Joseph Shine, Navtej, Vishaka
The Constitution Bench and large-bench decisions that shape modern IPC/BNS doctrine on death penalty, adultery, decriminalisation, sexual harassment, and personal liberty.
How to read these notes
Start with both citations.
Every chapter opens with the IPC section and the BNS counterpart on the same line. Read both. From 2024 onward the prelims paper expects both — a half-remembered IPC citation without the BNS pair will lose marks even when the doctrine is right.
Break the offence into elements.
Every offence collapses into actus reus, mens rea, statutory exception, and punishment. The "ingredients" list does this for you. A question about Section 300 IPC / Section 101 BNS will almost always test which clause applies and which exception is in play — not the bare definition.
Test on the leading case.
If you can restate the holding of Virsa Singh, K.M. Nanavati, or Reg v. Govinda in two sentences, you understand the chapter. If not, return to the ingredients list and rebuild from there.