BNS Section 191: Rioting

Definition of BNS Section 191

Section 191 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 states:
“(1) Whenever force or violence is used by an unlawful assembly, or by any member thereof, in prosecution of the common object of such assembly, every member of such assembly is guilty of the offence of rioting.

(2) Whoever is guilty of rioting, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

(3) Whoever is guilty of rioting, being armed with a deadly weapon or with anything which, used as a weapon of offence, is likely to cause death, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both.”

Explanation and Illustration of BNS Section 191

This section provides for the offence of rioting. It has been divided into three subsections. Let us take a look at them and breakdown the keywords for better understanding.

(1) The first subsection goes on to define what exactly is the meaning of ‘rioting’ for the purpose of this section. It states “force or violence used by an unlawful assembly” as the key identifying factor when it comes to rioting as an offence. Unlawful assembly, of course, if defined under the various provisions of section 189. The basic criteria of an unlawful assembly is that it must consist of five or more people and the said gathering of people assemble together with the intent of defying the law or resulting in the defiance of the law. This section specifies that if such a gathering results in the use of violence or force by any of its members, it will be considered as rioting.

It further states that such violence must occur in the prosecution of the common objectives of the assembly. This means that the violence has to be done for the purpose of achieving the common goals or objectives of that group. If the violence occurs unrelated to the gathering or the objective of the gathering, then it may not be prosecuted under the provisions of this section. For instance, if there is an unlawful protest and violence breaks when its demands are not met, then it is considered as rioting. But if during the protest, a fight breaks out between two or more members over some personal issue, leading to violence, then it may not fall under the ambit of rioting.

Finally, it states that if such rioting does take place, then every member of such assembly is guilty of the offence of rioting, i.e, every person who is part of the unlawful assembly will be prosecuted for rioting irrespective of whether they have actually precipitated or participated in the resulting violence.

The tricky part here is keeping in mind that unlawful assembly itself is an offence under section 189. This means that a person guilty under this section will be prosecuted for rioting under this section in addition to being prosecuted for unlawful assembly under the provisions of Section 189.

• (2) This subsection defines the punishment for rioting, as defined above, to be imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both depending on the seriousness of the consequences and as deemed appropriate by the judge.

• (3) This subsection adds that if the rioting, as defined in (1), involves members who are armed, then the offence will be treated a lot more seriously. However, it clarifies that being ‘armed’ refers to having possession of deadly weapon(s). A deadly weapon refers to any weapon that is likely to cause death upon infliction. It further clarifies that if any member found to be in possession of any item which is likely to cause death if used as a weapon of offence, then they too will be considered as armed members, irrespective of whether they actually make use of such items or not. This can include regular items that may be sharp (such as a nail), heavy (such as a hammer) or inflammable (such as a lighter). The punishment in such a case will be imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both depending on the seriousness of the consequences and as deemed appropriate by the judge.

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