IPC · Chapter XVI · Of offences affecting the human body

IPC section 304 in the BNS

IPC 304BNS 105

IPC section 304, “Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder”, is now BNS section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 304 to BNS 105

Now BNS section 105, with heavier punishments. Where the act is done with intent to cause death or likely-fatal injury: life, or imprisonment of at least five years and up to ten, and fine (IPC: up to ten years, no minimum). Where it is done only with the knowledge that death is likely: up to ten years and fine (IPC: up to ten years, or fine, or both).

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 304 Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder

Whoever commits culpable homicide not amounting to murder, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine, if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death;

or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both, if the act is done with the knowledge that it is likely to cause death, but without any intention to cause death, or to cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 105 Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder

Whoever commits culpable homicide not amounting to murder, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine, if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death; or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and with fine, if the act is done with the knowledge that it is likely to cause death, but without any intention to cause death, or to cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.