BNS Section 207: Preventing Service Of Summons Or Other Proceeding, Or Preventing Publication Thereof

Definition of BNS Section 207

Section 207 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 states:
“Whoever in any manner intentionally prevents the serving on himself, or on any other person, of any summons, notice or order proceeding from any public servant legally competent, as such public servant, to issue such summons, notice or order, or intentionally prevents the lawful affixing to any place of any such summons, notice or order or intentionally removes any such summons, notice or order from any place to which it is lawfully affixed or intentionally prevents the lawful making of any proclamation, under the authority of any public servant legally competent, as such public servant, to direct such proclamation to be made,–

(a) shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both;

(b) where the summons, notice, order or proclamation is to attend in person or by agent, or to produce a document or electronic record in a Court, with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees, or with both.

Explanation and Illustration of Section 207 (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023)

This section also deals with the offence of causing obstacles in the performance of a public servant’s duty. However, it is specific to obstruction in issuance of a summons, notice or order proceeding from any public servant. Let us break down the section to understand it better.

It defines the offender as a person who intentionally prevents the serving of a summons, notice or order proceeding on himself, or on any other person. So here it has been made clear that the act of obstruction has to be proven to be intentional and not accidental. If the person who is accused of an offence under this section can prove that he or she did not perform the act with the intention of obstructing the serving of a summons, then he or she cannot be held guilty of the act.

It further states that the act of obstruction has to be against a summons, notice or order issued by any public servant legally competent, as such public servant, to issue such summons, notice or order. Not all public servants are authorised to issue a notice, summons or order. So the order that is being obstructed has to be from an office who is authorised to do so. If it is later found that the order was issued by an officer who doesn’t have the authority to do so, then the order is considered void ab initio, i.e., void from the very beginning. No response or acknowledgement of such order is necessary.

Next, the section clarifies that obstructing the delivery of an order is not the only offence under the section. It also includes, intentionally preventing the lawful affixing to any place of any such summons, notice or order. Sometimes, when an order cannot be delivered, the person charged with delivering such an order affixes the order on the face of the property, such as on the wall or the gate. Preventing this act of affixing an order in any way shall also be considered an equal offence under this section. And not just the prevention of affixing but also intentionally removing any such summons, notice or order from any place to which it is lawfully affixed is an offence under section 207.

It has also included the obstruction of making any proclamation by a government authority as an offence under its provisions. There is a difference between a notice, an order, a summons and a proclamation as to when they are issued and by whom. But overall, all of them serve the same purpose as far as the provisions of this section are concerned. All of these documents are communications from a public servant belonging to a government organisation. And all of them require a response from the person to whom it has been issued.

The offence has been split into two levels of severity based on the issuing authority:

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