IPC · Chapter IV · General exceptions

IPC section 103 in the BNS

IPC 103BNS 41

IPC section 103, “When the right of private defence of property extends to causing death”, is now BNS section 41 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 103 to BNS 41

Now BNS section 41. Two changes in the list of situations: house-breaking “by night” becomes house-breaking “after sunset and before sunrise”, and mischief “by fire” becomes mischief “by fire or any explosive substance”.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 103 When the right of private defence of property extends to causing death

The right of private defence of property extends, under the restrictions mentioned in section 99, to the voluntary causing of death or of any other harm to the wrong-doer, if the offence, the committing of which, or the attempting to commit which, occasions the exercise of the right, be an offence of any of the descriptions hereinafter enumerated, namely:—

First.—Robbery;

Secondly.—House-breaking by night;

Thirdly.—Mischief by fire committed on any building, tent or vessel, which building, tent or vessel is used as a human dwelling, or as a place for the custody of property;

Fourthly.—Theft, mischief, or house-trespass, under such circumstances as may reasonably cause apprehension that death or grievous hurt will be the consequence, if such right of private defence is not exercised.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 41 When right of private defence of property extends to causing death

The right of private defence of property extends, under the restrictions specified in section 37, to the voluntary causing of death or of any other harm to the wrong-doer, if the offence, the committing of which, or the attempting to commit which, occasions the exercise of the right, be an offence of any of the descriptions hereinafter enumerated, namely: —

(a) robbery;

(b) house-breaking after sunset and before sunrise;

(c) mischief by fire or any explosive substance committed on any building, tent or vessel, which building, tent or vessel is used as a human dwelling, or as a place for the custody of property;

(d) theft, mischief, or house-trespass, under such circumstances as may reasonably cause apprehension that death or grievous hurt will be the consequence, if such right of private defence is not exercised.

The texts are India Code’s. The amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown. The PDFs linked below carry the full history.

Old law or new?

Which one applies to a case

The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)). The repeal does not reach back: under section 358(2), penalties and punishments incurred for offences committed against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed. An act done before 1 July 2024 is therefore dealt with under the IPC section; an act done on or after that date, under the BNS.