Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Section 259, BNS: Intentional omission to apprehend on part of public servant bound to apprehend
Section 259 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 259 | Section 221 | corresponds |
From the Bureau of Police Research and Development's official comparison summary (source below). The whole table: IPC to BNS.
The section
259. Intentional omission to apprehend on part of public servant bound to apprehend.
Whoever, being a public servant, legally bound as such public servant to apprehend or to keep in confinement any person charged with or liable to be apprehended for an offence, intentionally omits to apprehend such person, or intentionally suffers such person to escape, or intentionally aids such person in escaping or attempting to escape from such confinement, shall be punished,— (a) with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, with or without fine, if the person in confinement, or who ought to have been apprehended, was charged with, or liable to be apprehended for, an offence punishable with death; or (b) with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, with or without fine, if the person in confinement, or who ought to have been apprehended, was charged with, or liable to be apprehended for, an offence punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years; or (c) with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, with or without fine, if the person in confinement, or who ought to have been apprehended, was charged with, or liable to be apprehended for, an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term less than ten years.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 259 (read 1 September 2026)
- Bureau of Police Research and Development: comparison summary, BNS to IPC (read 1 September 2026)