IPC · Chapter XIV · Of offences affecting the public health, safety, convenience, decency and morals
IPC section 277, “Fouling water of public spring or reservoir”, is now BNS section 279 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.
Now BNS section 279. The maximum imprisonment for fouling a public spring or reservoir rises from three months to six months, and the maximum fine from ₹500 to ₹5,000.
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Whoever voluntarily corrupts or fouls the water of any public spring or reservoir, so as to render it less fit for the purpose for which it is ordinarily used, 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 corrupts or fouls the water of any public spring or reservoir, so as to render it less fit for the purpose for which it is ordinarily used, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description 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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.
The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.
