IPC · Chapter VIII · Of offences against the public tranquillity

IPC section 159 in the BNS

IPC 159BNS 194(1)

IPC section 159, “Affray”, is now BNS section 194(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 159 to BNS 194

The words are the same as in the IPC, apart from “Sanhita” for the Act’s own name and the new numbers of the sections it refers to. It now sits in BNS 194 with IPC 160.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 159 Affray

When two or more persons, by fighting in a public place, disturb the public peace, they are said to “commit an affray”.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 194 Affray

The part that carries IPC 159 is marked.

(1) When two or more persons, by fighting in a public place, disturb the public peace, they are said to commit an affray.

(2) Whoever commits an affray, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.

Also in BNS 194

Other IPC sections that went to the same place

IPC 160 Punishment for committing affray → BNS 194(2)

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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.