IPC · Chapter X · Of contempts of the lawful authority of public servants
IPC section 186, “Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions”, is now BNS section 221 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.
Now BNS section 221. The maximum fine for obstructing a public servant rises from ₹500 to ₹2,500; imprisonment stays at up to three months.
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Whoever voluntarily obstructs any public servant in the discharge of his public functions, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Whoever voluntarily obstructs any public servant in the discharge of his public functions, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand and five hundred 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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.
The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.
