IPC · Chapter XIV · Of offences affecting the public health, safety, convenience, decency and morals
IPC section 278, “Making atmosphere noxious to health”, is now BNS section 280 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.
Now BNS section 280. The maximum fine rises from ₹500 to ₹1,000.
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Whoever voluntarily vitiates the atmosphere in any place so as to make it noxious to the health of persons in general dwelling or carrying on business in the neighbourhood or passing along a public way, shall be punished with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Whoever voluntarily vitiates the atmosphere in any place so as to make it noxious to the health of persons in general dwelling or carrying on business in the neighbourhood or passing along a public way, shall be punished with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees.
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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.
