BNS Section 195: Assaulting Or Obstructing Public Servant When Suppressing Riot, Etc

Definition of BNS Section 195

Section 195 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 states:
(1) Whoever assaults or obstructs any public servant or uses criminal force on any public servant in the discharge of his duty as such public servant in endeavouring to disperse an unlawful assembly, or to suppress a riot or affray, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five thousand rupees, or with both.

(2) Whoever threatens to assault or attempts to obstruct any public servant or threatens or attempts to use criminal force to any public servant in the discharge of his duty as such public servant in endeavouring to disperse an unlawful assembly, or to suppress a riot or affray, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.”

Explanation and Illustration of BNS Section 195

In broad, this section deals with the offence of stopping a public servant from discharging their specific duty of riot control. It has been divided into two subsections. Let us break down the keywords from the section to get a better understanding of it.

The first subsection states that certain kinds of physical acts against a public servant who is discharging his or her duty in the endeavour of dispersing a riot shall be punishable under these sections. They are assault, obstruction and use of criminal force. These are very broad terms, as assault and obstruction need not necessarily mean use of physical force, whereas use of criminal force almost always means use of physical force but can also be used in the context of coercion, extortion and blackmail. This section does not specify if such actions have to be physical in nature or not for the purpose of this section, leaving it open to the interpretation of the judge, depending on the severity of the case. However, there are two important checks to determine if an action is prosecutable under the provisions of section 195.

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