Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 14 “Servant of Government”
The words “servant of Government” denote any officer or servant continued, appointed or employed in India by or under the authority of Government.
IPC · Chapter II · General explanations
IPC section 14 in the BNS
IPC 14Not carried over
IPC section 14, ““Servant of Government””, was not carried into the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the IPC on 1 July 2024.
What changed
Why there is no BNS section
The BNS has no definition of “servant of Government”. The phrase is not used in the BNS; its offences speak of public servants, defined in section 2(28).
The official text
Old and new, side by side
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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.
Sources
- The Indian Penal Code (Act 45 of 1860), India Code (archived copy)
- The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act 45 of 2023), as on 6 October 2025, India Code (archived copy)
- Correspondence Table and Comparison Summary of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) to the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), Bureau of Police Research and Development (Ministry of Home Affairs): where each section went
