IPC · Chapter XVI · Of offences affecting the human body

IPC section 303 in the BNS

IPC 303BNS 104

IPC section 303, “Punishment for murder by life-convict”, is now BNS section 104 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 303 to BNS 104

Now BNS section 104. A life-convict who commits murder may now be sentenced to death or to imprisonment for life meaning the rest of their natural life; IPC 303 provided death as the only punishment.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 303 Punishment for murder by life-convict

Whoever, being under sentence of imprisonment for life, commits murder, shall be punished with death.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 104 Punishment for murder by life-convict

Whoever, being under sentence of imprisonment for life, commits murder, shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life, which shall mean the remainder of that person’s natural life.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.