Section 321: Dishonestly Or Fraudulently Preventing Debt Being Available For Creditors

Definition of BNS Section 321

Section 321 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 states:

Whoever dishonestly or fraudulently prevents any debt or demand due to himself or to any other person from being made available according to law for payment of his debts or the debts of such other person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

Explanation and Illustration of Section 321

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

• Offence

  When a person who owes money for any reason and performs any action that prevents the creditor from claiming or receiving the money owed to them through dishonest or unlawful means shall be considered an offender under the provisions of this section.
  
  This section does not specify any particular action that may be taken in that direction, but if any particular action by a person leads to a creditor being prevented from claiming and receiving their dues and it is found that such an action was performed specifically to prevent such payment, then it shall be considered an offence under the provisions of this section.

• Punishment

  Any person found guilty of deliberately preventing a creditor from collecting their dues shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

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

  • The offender is forced or coerced into performing the offence
  • 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

  A manipulates his electricity meter to make sure that he doesn’t get billed for consuming electricity. A is an offender under the provisions of this section.

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