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

IPC section 187 in the BNS

IPC 187BNS 222

IPC section 187, “Omission to assist public servant when bound by law to give assistance”, is now BNS section 222 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 187 to BNS 222

Now BNS section 222, with the two cases set out as clauses (a) and (b). Maximum fines rise from ₹200 to ₹2,500 and from ₹500 to ₹5,000.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 187 Omission to assist public servant when bound by law to give assistance

Whoever, being bound by law to render or furnish assistance to any public servant in the execution of his public duty, intentionally omits to give such assistance, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both;

and if such assistance be demanded of him by a public servant legally competent to make such demand for the purposes of executing any process lawfully issued by a Court of Justice, or of preventing the commission of an offence, or suppressing a riot, or affray, or of apprehending a person charged with or guilty of an offence, or of having escaped from lawful custody, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 222 Omission to assist public servant when bound by law to give assistance

Whoever, being bound by law to render or furnish assistance to any public servant in the execution of his public duty, intentionally omits to give such assistance,—

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

(b) and where such assistance be demanded of him by a public servant legally competent to make such demand for the purposes of executing any process lawfully issued by a Court or of preventing the commission of an offence, or suppressing a riot, or affray, or of apprehending a person charged with or guilty of an offence, or of having escaped from lawful custody, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five 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.