BNS Section 312: Attempt To Commit Robbery Or Dacoity When Armed With Deadly Weapon

Definition of BNS Section 312

Section 312 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 states:

If, at the time of attempting to commit robbery or dacoity, the offender is armed with any deadly weapon, the imprisonment with which such offender shall be punished shall not be less than seven years.

Explanation and Illustration of BNS Section 312

This section is applicable to any person within the sovereign borders of India, whether citizen, resident or otherwise. It deals with the offence of committing robbery or dacoity with deadly weapon. Let us break down the section to get a better understanding of it.

• Offence

  This section provides for persons committing robbery or dacoity while being armed with a deadly weapon. Under the BNS, robbery is defined as elevated theft or compounded extortion. And dacoity is considered robbery performed by a group of five or more. As you can see, robbery and dacoity are nothing but several crimes clubbed as one because they involve

  • 1. Dispossessing a person of their property
  • 2. Trespassing on private property
  • 3. Immediate threat of injury or death

• When a person commits such crimes armed with a deadly weapon, it shall be considered an offence under the provisions of Section 312. Deadly weapon, for the purpose of this section, refers to any object or item that can be used to commit murder or cause grievous injury. Threat of injury or death means that the offender has created a very volatile situation which could turn violent and cause injury or death. However, when a person comes armed with deadly weapons while committing such crimes, it displays that the person has come with the intent to cause deadly harm. This elevates ‘threat of death or injury’ to ‘intent to cause death or grievous injury.’ And intent to commit crime is equally culpable, if not more, under the provisions of the BNS because a crime committed circumstantially may not be repeated. But a crime committed with a malicious intent indicates a possibility of further criminal acts. And for that reason, this offence has been treated as a separate offence rather than as a subsection under the section that provides for dacoity. As stated in the section, any person found to be armed with a deadly weapon, at the time of committing or attempting to commit a dacoity or robbery shall be considered an offender under the provisions of this section.

• Punishment

  Any person found armed with a deadly weapon at the time of committing or attempting to commit a dacoity or robbery shall be punished with imprisonment for a term that shall not be less than seven years.

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

  • 1. The offender is forced or coerced into performing the offence
  • 2. The offender is a minor or not of sane mind.

• However, there may be other sections under the BNS under which the above actions can be prosecuted and while they may be disqualified under the provisions of this section, such actions will still be punishable under the provisions of those respective sections of the BNS.

• Illustration

  Z and six of his friends decide to break into a neighbour’s house to threaten him until he hands over all his money. Z procures a gun in order to threaten the neighbour. Z is an offender under the provisions of Section 312.

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