BNS Section 353: Statements Conducing to Public Mischief

Definition of BNS Section 353

Section 353 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 states:

(1) Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, false information, rumour, or report, including through electronic means—

(a) with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, any officer, soldier, sailor or airman in the Army, Navy or Air Force of India to mutiny or otherwise disregard or fail in his duty as such; or

(b) with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquillity; or

(c) with intent to incite, or which is likely to incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

(2) Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement or report containing false information, rumour or alarming news, including through electronic means, with intent to create or promote, or which is likely to create or promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

(3) Whoever commits an offence specified in sub-section (2) in any place of worship or in any assembly engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious ceremonies, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to five years and shall also be liable to fine. Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace.

Exception.—It does not amount to an offence, within the meaning of this section, when the person making, publishing or circulating any such statement, false information, rumour or report, has reasonable grounds for believing that such statement, false information, rumour or report is true and makes, publishes or circulates it in good faith and without any such intent as aforesaid.

Explanation and Illustration of BNS Section 353

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

• Offence

  This section deals with persons making deliberate and often false statements with the intent to commit mischief, knowing well that such an act could evoke a violent or outrageous reaction. This section has been divided into three subsections with each subsection describing different types of such statements and the punishment that making such statements carries under the Indian law. Let us take a look at them one by one.
  
  Subsection (1) defines offence in knowingly publishing and circulating any statement of false information, rumour, or report through any form of mass media with the intent of:
  
  causing mutiny or disregard for duty within any officer, soldier, sailor or airman in the Army, Navy or Air Force of India.
  causing fear or alarm amongst any section of the public which could in turn induce the common man to commit offences against any person or the state which he or she wouldn’t commit otherwise.
  inciting communities or classes to commit offences against each other
  
  Subsection (2) defines offence in knowingly publishing and circulating any statement of false information, rumour or alarming news through a any form of mass media with intent to create or promote hatred or ill will amongst the any section of the public on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever.
  
  Subsection (3) defines offence as making any statement as described in sub-section (2) made at any place of worship or in any assembly engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious ceremonies.

• Punishment

  Any person found guilty of making false and inciting statements with the intent of causing unrest amongst any section of the public as described shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
  
  Any person guilty of making inciting statements to promote feelings of enmity, between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
  
  Any person found guilty of making inciting statements on religious grounds at a place of religious gathering shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to five 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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