Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Section 254, BNS: Penalty for harbouring robbers or dacoits
Section 254 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in the Act's own words, with the IPC provision it replaces.
What it replaces
| BNS provision | IPC provision | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| Section 254 | Section 216A | corresponds |
From the Bureau of Police Research and Development's official comparison summary (source below). The whole table: IPC to BNS.
The section
254. Penalty for harbouring robbers or dacoits.
Whoever, knowing or having reason to believe that any persons are about to commit or have recently committed robbery or dacoity, harbours them or any of them, with the intention of facilitating the commission of such robbery or dacoity, or of screening them or any of them from punishment, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation.—For the purposes of this section it is immaterial whether the robbery or dacoity is intended to be committed, or has been committed, within or without India. Exception.—The provisions of this section do not extend to the case in which the harbour is by the spouse of the offender.The text is India Code's consolidated text as loaded into Pundora's statute corpus on 1 September 2026. A section quoted in a draft checked by Pundora is checked against this text.
Sources
- India Code: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, section 254 (read 1 September 2026)
- Bureau of Police Research and Development: comparison summary, BNS to IPC (read 1 September 2026)