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Section 2 – BNS: Definitions
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Act No. 45 of 2023 | Enacted: 25th December, 2023 | In Force: 1st July, 2024
Chapter I – Preliminary
Section 2. Definitions
In this Sanhita, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(1) “act” denotes as well a series of acts as a single act;
(2) “animal” denotes any living creature, other than a human being;
(3) “court” means a Judge who is empowered by law to act judicially alone, or a body of Judges which is empowered by law to act judicially as a body, when such Judge or body of Judges is acting judicially;
(4) “death” denotes the death of a human being unless the contrary appears from the context;
(5) “dishonestly” means doing anything with the intention of causing wrongful gain to one person or wrongful loss to another person;
(6) “document” means any matter expressed or described upon any substance by means of letters, figures or marks, or by more than one of those means, intended to be used, or which may be used, as evidence of that matter; Explanation 1.—It is immaterial by what means or upon what substance the letters, figures or marks are formed, or whether the evidence is intended for, or may be used in, a Court of Justice, or not. Explanation 2.—A map or plan which is intended to be used or which may be used as evidence, is a document. Explanation 3.—A writing is a document. Explanation 4.—It is immaterial whether the document is written or printed or stored in any electronic form;
(7) “electronic record” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000;
(8) “female” means a woman of any age;
(9) “fraudulently” means doing anything with the intention to defraud, but not otherwise;
(10) “good faith”—nothing is said to be done or believed in “good faith” which is done or believed without due care and attention;
(11) “government” denotes the Central Government or the Government of a State;
(12) “harbour” includes the supplying a person with shelter, food, drink, money, clothes, arms, ammunition or means of conveyance, or the assisting a person by any means, whether of the same kind as those enumerated in this clause or not, to evade apprehension;
(13) “injury” denotes any harm whatever illegally caused to any person, in body, mind, reputation or property;
(14) “judge” denotes a person who is officially designated as a Judge, and includes a person who is empowered by law to give, in any legal proceeding, civil or criminal, a definitive judgment;
(15) “law” includes any Ordinance, order, by-law, rule, regulation, notification, custom or usage having in the territory of India the force of law;
(16) “letter” includes a message or written communication transmitted through the postal service or by electronic means;
(17) “male” means a man of any age;
(18) “movable property” includes property of every description, except land and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything which is attached to the earth;
(19) “night” or “nighttime” means the interval between nine of the clock in the evening and six of the clock in the morning;
(20) “oath” includes a solemn affirmation substituted by law for an oath, and any declaration required or authorised by law to be made before a public servant or to be used for the purpose of proof, whether in a Court of Justice or not;
(21) “offence” means any act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force and includes any act in respect of which a complaint may be made under section 20 of the Cattle-trespass Act, 1871;
(22) “officer” includes any person who is an officer of the Government, an officer of a court of justice, and any officer of the armed forces;
(23) “public” includes any class of the public or any community;
(24) “public servant” means a person falling under any of the following descriptions, namely:— (a) every commissioned officer in the Military, Naval and Air Forces of India; (b) every Judge; (c) every officer of a Court of Justice whose duty it is, as such officer, to investigate or report on any matter of law or fact, or to make, authenticate, or keep any document, or to take charge or dispose of any property, or to execute any judicial process, or to administer any oath, or to interpret, or to preserve order in the Court; (d) every person empowered to keep any public record or document; and many others as specified in the original text of the section;
(25) “reasonable apprehension” means genuine and well-founded fear or belief that a particular consequence will occur;
(26) “registered”, in reference to a document, means registered in any part of India under the laws for the time being in force for the registration of documents;
(27) “will” denotes any testamentary document;
Plain-English Explanation
Section 2 is the master definitions clause of the BNS. It defines key terms used throughout all 358 sections. The most practically important definitions are: “dishonestly” (wrongful gain or wrongful loss to any person – the cornerstone of property offences); “fraudulently” (intent to defraud); “document” (expressly includes electronic records and stored data); “public servant” (a very wide class covering judges, armed forces, government employees and many others); and “injury” (harm to body, mind, reputation or property). These definitions apply wherever the same words are used in any other section of the BNS unless the context requires otherwise.
Source: The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023). In force from 1st July 2024.
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