BNS Section 326: Mischief By Injury, Inundation, Fire Or Explosive Substance, Etc

Definition of BNS Section 326

Section 326 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 states:

Whoever commits mischief by,—

(a) doing any act which causes, or which he knows to be likely to cause, a diminution of the supply of water for agricultural purposes, or for food or drink for human beings or for animals which are property, or for cleanliness or for carrying on any manufacture, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both;

(b) doing any act which renders or which he knows to be likely to render any public road, bridge, navigable river or navigable channel, natural or artificial, impassable or less safe for travelling or conveying property, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both;

(c) doing any act which causes or which he knows to be likely to cause an inundation or an obstruction to any public drainage attended with injury or damage, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both;

(d) destroying or moving any sign or signal used for navigation of rail, aircraft or ship or other thing placed as a guide for navigators, or by any act which renders any such sign or signal less useful as a guide for navigators, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both;

(e) destroying or moving any land-mark fixed by the authority of a public servant, or by any act which renders such land-mark less useful as such, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both;

(f) fire or any explosive substance intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby cause, damage to any property including agricultural produce, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine;

(g) fire or any explosive substance, intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby cause, the destruction of any building which is ordinarily used as a place of worship or as a human dwelling or as a place for the custody of property, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Explanation and Illustration of Section 326

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

• Offence

  This section is a combination of several different sections under the IPC that covered a few specific types of mischief. For that purpose, each of those sections has been reclassified under Section 326 of the IPC as separate clauses. Let us take a look at each one of them.
  
  Section 324 has defined mischief as a criminal offence in general. It states that any act of mischief that leads to loss of damage of any property belonging to anyone or injury or death to any person shall amount to criminal offence. Applying the same definition of mischief to the clauses:
  
  Clause (a) states that any act which is committed with intent of diminution of the supply of water or knowing well that such action can affect the supply of water and if such water is used for
  
  agricultural purposes
  food or drink for human beings
  food or drink for animals which are property,
  Cleanliness
  carrying on any manufacture
  shall be considered an offence under the provisions of this section.
  
  Clause (b) states that any act of mischief which performed with the intent to render or which is performed despite knowing that is likely to render, any
  
  public road
  bridge
  navigable river
  navigable channel, natural or artificial
  
  into such a state of disrepair or damage that its utility is diminished or it becomes impassable, or less safe for travelling or conveying property then it shall be considered an offence under the provisions of this section.
  
  Clause (c) states that any act of mischief performed with the intent of causing, or is performed despite knowing that such an act will cause, injury or damage to any public drainage and such an act leads to inundation or obstruction to the said public drainage shall be considered an offence under the provisions of this section.
  
  Clause (d) states that any act of mischief performed with the intent of, or knowing well that such an act can
  
  destroy
  displace
  render useless
  
  any sign or signal or any other item that is used for navigation of rail, aircraft or ship shall be considered an offence under the provisions of this section.
  
  Clause (e) states that any act of mischief that is performed with the intent of, or knowing well that such an action can lead to,
  
  destroying
  displacing
  diminishing the utility or value
  
  of any land-mark fixed by the order of any public servant or government authority shall be considered an offence under the provisions of this section.
  
  Clause (f) states that any act of mischief involving fire or any explosive substance performed with the intention of causing, or knowing that such an act will cause, damage to any property, including agricultural produce, shall be considered an offence under the provisions of this section.
  
  Clause (g) states that any act of mischief involving fire or any explosive substance performed with the intention of causing, or knowing that such an act will cause, the destruction of any building which is ordinarily used as
  
  a place of worship
  a human dwelling
  a place for the custody of property (such as a warehouse)
  
  shall be considered an offence under the provisions of this section.

• Punishment

  • Any person committing an act of mischief that causes diminishment of or adversely affects the supply of water used for domestic purposes in any way shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both;
  • Any person found guilty of committing an act of mischief that has lead to the damage or destruction of any public utility that is used for conveyance or transportation shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both;
  • Any person found guilty of any act of mischief that was performed with the intention of causing or knowing that such action could cause damage to a public drainage which can cause inundation or obstruction of the drainage shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both;
  • Any person found guilty of performing any act of mischief with the intent of, or knowing well that such an action can, destroy, displace or render useless any sign, signal or any item used for the navigation of trains, ships or aircrafts shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both;
  • Any person found guilty of any act of mischief that has been performed with the intention of, or knowing fully well that such an act can lead to, destroying, displacing or reducing the value of any public landmark shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both;
  • Any person found guilty of any act of mischief involving fire or explosive items performed with the intent, or knowing well that such an action can cause, damage to any property shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine;
  • Any person found guilty of performing any act of mischief with the intent of causing, or knowing well it will cause, the destruction of any building in ordinary use by the public shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

• 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.

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