IPC · Chapter X · Of contempts of the lawful authority of public servants

IPC section 176 in the BNS

IPC 176BNS 211

IPC section 176, “Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it”, is now BNS section 211 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 176 to BNS 211

Now BNS section 211, with the three cases set out as clauses (a) to (c). Maximum fines rise from ₹500 to ₹5,000 and from ₹1,000 to ₹10,000; the third case now refers to the BNSS.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 176 Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it

Whoever, being legally bound to give any notice or to furnish information on any subject to any public servant, as such, intentionally omits to give such notice or to furnish such information in the manner and at the time required by law, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both;

or, if the notice or information required to be given respects the commission of an offence, or is required for the purpose of preventing the commission of an offence, or in order to the apprehension of an offender, with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both;

or, if the notice or information required to be given is required by an order passed under sub-section (1) of section 565 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 211 Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it

(a) shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both;

(b) where the notice or information required to be given respects the commission of an offence, or is required for the purpose of preventing the commission of an offence, or in order to the apprehension of an offender, with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees, or with both;

(c) where the notice or information required to be given is required by an order passed under section 394 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, 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.

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.