BNS Section 271: Negligent Act Likely To Spread Infection Of Disease Dangerous To Life

Definition of BNS Section 271

Section 271 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 states:

“Whoever unlawfully or negligently does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.”

Explanation and Illustration of Section 271

This section is applicable to any person within the sovereign borders of India, whether citizen, resident or otherwise. It deals with the offence of negligently endangering public health. Let us break down the section to get a better understanding of it.

Offence

Any act that is likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life is an offence under the BNS. ‘Dangerous to life’ refers to diseases that have a fair to high mortality rate. However, for such an act to fall under the provisions of section 271, it has to meet the following criteria:

Unlawful or negligent - An unlawful act is an act that is against the directions of the law, whereas a negligent act is an act that is not necessarily unlawful, but is reckless to the extent that it can lead to injury.

Knows or has reason to believe - The unlawful act or negligent act must be done despite knowing that it can cause spread of an infection or had access to information that warned of the dangers of performing such action.

The act must meet the above two criteria to count as an offence under the provisions of Section 271. While it is a common understanding that a negligent act is not a deliberate act. That is a person who performs an act despite fully knowing the consequences cannot claim that it was done out of negligence.

However, for the purpose of the law, intent of the act is considered most important in defining its criminality. So if a person does an act knowing that it is harmful to others, but still does it out of self interest and not with the intention of harming others, then it shall be considered a negligent act.

For instance, a person with a communicable disease is placed in quarantine and is strictly warned to remain within the quarantine zone as it can spread to the public. However, the person, feeling suffocated and claustrophobic, sneaks out of the quarantine zone to get fresh air, despite knowing that his actions can spread the infection. This shall be considered an act of negligence under the provisions of Section 271.

Punishment

Any deliberate act, performed negligently or unlawfully, threatening public health shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.

The above actions may not be an offence under this section if:

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