BNS Section 253: Harbouring Offender Who Has Escaped From Custody Or Whose Apprehension Has Been Ordered

Definition of BNS Section 253

Section 253 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 states:

“Whenever any person convicted of or charged with an offence, being in lawful custody for that offence, escapes from such custody, or whenever a public servant, in the exercise of the lawful powers of such public servant, orders a certain person to be apprehended for an offence, whoever, knowing of such escape or order for apprehension, harbours or conceals that person with the intention of preventing him from being apprehended, shall be punished in the manner following, namely:––

(a) if the offence for which the person was in custody or is ordered to be apprehended is punishable with death, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine;

(b) if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for ten years, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, with or without fine;

(c) if the offence is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to one year and not to ten years, he shall be punished with imprisonment of the description provided for the offence for a term which may extend to one-fourth part of the longest term of the imprisonment provided for such offence, or with fine, or with both.

Explanation.––“Offence” in this section includes also any act or omission of which a person is alleged to have been guilty out of India, which, if he had been guilty of it in India, would have been punishable as an offence, and for which he is, under any law relating to extradition, or otherwise, liable to be apprehended or detained in custody in India, and every such act or omission shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be punishable as if the accused person had been guilty of it in India.

Exception.—The provisions of this section do not extend to the case in which the harbour or concealment is by the spouse of the person to be apprehended.

Explanation and Illustration of Section 253

This section is applicable to any person within the sovereign borders of India, whether citizen, resident or otherwise. It deals with the offence of harbouring a person on the run from the law. Let us break down the section to get a better understanding of it.

Offence
When a person is on the run from the law and he or she seeks shelter from being apprehended by the authorities, then, any person who offers such shelter despite knowing the circumstances under which such shelter is being sought, shall be considered an offender under the provisions of section 253.

The section defines two kinds of persons as the ones who may seek shelter:

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