IPC · Chapter XIV · Of offences affecting the public health, safety, convenience, decency and morals

IPC section 293 in the BNS

IPC 293BNS 295

IPC section 293, “Sale, etc., of obscene objects to young person”, is now BNS section 295 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 293 to BNS 295

Now BNS section 295. The offence protects a “child” (under eighteen, BNS section 2(3)); the IPC protected any person under twenty. Same punishments.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 293 Sale, etc., of obscene objects to young person

Whoever sells, lets to hire, distributes, exhibits or circulates to any person under the age of twenty years any such obscene object as is referred to in the last preceding section, or offers or attempts so to do, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, and, in the event of a second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and also with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 295 Sale, etc., of obscene objects to child

Whoever sells, lets to hire, distributes, exhibits or circulates to any child any such obscene object as is referred to in section 294, or offers or attempts so to do, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, and, in the event of a second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and also with fine which may extend to five 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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.

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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.