Law and You > Criminal Laws > Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 > Frequently Asked Questions on BNS: Set A
Q1. State any two persons who would be Public Servant as per BNS. (Name any two from the following)
A “public servant” is generally defined as someone who holds a public office or position and is employed by the government or a government agency to serve the public. According to S. 2(28) of BNS following persons are considered Public Servant.
Q2. State any two instances of Grievous Hurt. (Name any two from the following)
- Commissioned Officer in the Military, Naval or Air Forces of India
- Judge including any person empowered by law to discharge, whether by himself or as a member of any body of persons, any adjudicatory functions
- Officer of a Court of Justice (including a liquidator, receiver or commissioner) 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, and every person specially authorized by a Court of Justice to perform any of such duties
- Juryman, assessor, or member of a Panchayat assisting a Court of Justice or public servant
- Arbitrator or other person to whom any cause or matter has been referred for decision or report by any Court of Justice, or by any other competent public authority
- Person who holds any office by virtue of which he is empowered to place or keep any person in confinement
- Officer of the Government whose duty it is, as such officer, to prevent offences, to give information of offences, to bring offenders to justice, or to protect the public health, safety or convenience
- Officer whose duty it is as such officer, to take, receive, keep or expend any property on behalf of the Government, or to make any survey, assessment or contract on behalf of the Government, or to execute any revenue process, or to investigate, or to report, on any matter affecting the pecuniary interests of the Government, or to make authenticate or keep any document relating to the pecuniary interests of the Government, or to prevent the infraction of any law for the protection of the pecuniary interests of the Government
- Officer whose duty it is, as such officer, to take, receive, keep or expend any property, to make any survey or assessment or to levy any rate or tax for any secular common purpose of any village, town or district, or to make, authenticate or keep any document for the ascertaining of the rights of the people of any village, town or district
- Person who holds any office in virtue of which he is empowered to prepare, publish, maintain or revise an electoral roll or to conduct an election or part of an election
- Person in the service or pay of the Government or remunerated by fees or commission for the performance of any public duty by the Government
- Person in the service or pay of a local authority, a corporation established by or under a Central, Provincial or State Act or a Government company as defined in section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956.
- There are some case laws where the certain categories of persons are considered as public servant and other not
According to S. 116 of BNS following are the examples of Grievous Hurt.
- Emasculation;
- Permanent privation of the sight of either eye;
- Permanent privation of the hearing of either ear;
- Privation of any member or joint;
- Destruction or permanent impairing of the powers of any member or joint;
- Permanent disfiguration of the head or face;
- Fracture or dislocation of a bone or tooth;
- Any hurt which endangers life or which causes the sufferer to be during the space of fifteen days in severe bodily pain, or unable to follow his ordinary pursuits.
Q3. Define Assault.
According to S. 130 of BNS, whoever makes any gesture, or any preparation intending or knowing it to be likely that such gesture or preparation will cause any person present to apprehend that he who makes that gesture or preparation is about to use criminal force to that person, is said to commit an assault.
Q4. Define Voluntarily as per BNS.
According to S. 2(33) of BNS, a person is said to cause an effect “voluntarily” when he causes it by means whereby he intended to cause it, or by means which, at the time of employing those means, he knew or had reason to believe to be likely to cause it.
Q5. What is Voyeurism?
According to S. 77 of BNS, whoever watches, or captures the image of a woman engaging in a private act in circumstances where she would usually have the expectation of not being observed either by the perpetrator or by any other person at the behest of the perpetrator or disseminates such image, then he is said to commit Voyeurism.
Q6. Define Criminal Intimidation.
According to S. 351 of BNS, whoever threatens another by any means, with any injury to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of such threat, commits criminal intimidation.
Q7. What is Wrongful Restraint?
According to S. 126 of BNS, whoever voluntarily obstructs any person so as to prevent that person from proceeding in any direction in which that person has a right to proceed, is said wrongfully to restrain that person
Q8. Give two examples of Mischief. (Name any two from the following)
- A voluntarily burns a valuable security belonging to Z intending to cause wrongful loss to Z. A has committed mischief.
- A introduces water into an ice-house belonging to Z and thus causes the ice to melt, intending wrongful loss to Z. A has committed mischief.
- A voluntarily throws into a river a ring belonging to Z, with the intention of thereby causing wrongful loss to Z. A has committed mischief.
- A, knowing that his effects are about to be taken in execution in order to satisfy a debt due from him to Z, destroys those effects, with the intention of thereby preventing Z from obtaining satisfaction of the debt, and of thus causing damage to Z. A has committed mischief.
- A having insured a ship, voluntarily causes the same to be cast away, with the intention of causing damage to the underwriters. A has committed mischief.
- A causes a ship to be cast away, intending thereby to cause damage to Z who has lent money on bottomry on the ship. A has committed mischief.
- A, having joint property with Z in a horse, shoots the horse, intending thereby to cause wrongful loss to Z. A has committed mischief.
- A causes cattle to enter upon a field belonging to Z, intending to cause and knowing that he is likely to cause damage to Z’s crop. A has committed mischief.
Q9. What is a Gang Rape?
According to S. 70 of BNS, Where a woman is raped by one or more persons constituting a group or acting in furtherance of a common intention, each of those persons shall be deemed to have committed the offence of Gang Rape
Q10. State any two exceptions to defamation. (Name any two from the following)
- Exception 1: It is not defamation to impute anything which is true concerning any person, if it be for the public good that the imputation should be made or published. Whether or not it is for the public good is a question of fact.
- Exception 2: It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion whatever respecting the conduct of a public servant in the discharge of his public functions, or respecting his character, so far as his character appears in that conduct, and no further.
- Exception 3: It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion whatever respecting the conduct of any person touching any public question, and respecting his character, so far as his character appears in that conduct, and no further.
- Exception 4: It is not defamation to publish substantially true report of the proceedings of a Court, or of the result of any such proceedings.
- Exception 5: It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion whatever respecting the merits of any case, civil or criminal, which has been decided by a Court, or respecting the conduct of any person as a party, witness or agent, in any such case, or respecting the character of such person, as far as his character appears in that conduct, and no further.
- Exception 6: It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion respecting the merits of any performance which its author has submitted to the judgment of the public, or respecting the character of the author so far as his character appears in such performance, and no further.
- Exception 7: It is not defamation in a person having over another any authority, either conferred by law or arising out of a lawful contract made with that other, to pass in good faith any censure on the conduct of that other in matters to which such lawful authority relates.
- Exception 8: It is not defamation to prefer in good faith an accusation against any person to any of those who have lawful authority over that person with respect to the subject-matter of accusation.
- Exception 9: It is not defamation to make an imputation on the character of another provided that the imputation be made in good faith for the protection of the interests of the person making it, or of any other person, or for the public good.
- Exception 10: It is not defamation to convey a caution, in good faith, to one person against another, provided that such caution be intended for the good of the person to whom it is conveyed, or of some person in whom that person is interested, or for the public good.
Q11. What are the Two Theories of Negligence?
The two theories of negligence are a) Objective theory of negligence and b) Subjective theory of negligence.
Q12. Define Stolen Property.
According to S. 317(1) of BNS, property, the possession whereof has been transferred by theft or extortion or robbery or cheating, and property which has been criminally misappropriated or in respect of which criminal breach of trust has been committed, is designated as stolen property.
Q13. What is Bigamy?
Bigamy is the act of marrying one person when the individual is already legally married to another person and the marriage is in subsistence and the spouse is living. It is offence under Section 82 BNS.
Q14. What is Admiralty Jurisdiction?
Admiralty jurisdiction refers to the legal authority vested in certain courts to hear and decide cases related to maritime activities, including shipping, navigation, marine commerce, and maritime disputes like vessel ownership, cargo damage, and seafarers’ rights. This jurisdiction allows designated High Courts in India to exercise control over legal matters occurring within territorial waters and beyond, up to areas like the exclusive economic zone.
Q15. What is Limitation to the Right of Private Defence under Section 37 BNS?
According to Section 37(1) of BNS There is no right of private defence,
- against an act which does not reasonably cause the apprehension of death or of grievous hurt, if done, or attempted to be done, by a public servant acting in good faith under colour of his office, though that act, may not be strictly justifiable by law;
- against an act which does not reasonably cause the apprehension of death or of grievous hurt, if done, or attempted to be done, by the direction of a public servant acting in good faith under colour of his office, though that direction may not be strictly justifiable by law;
- in cases in which there is time to have recourse to the protection of the public authorities.
According to Section 37(1) of BNS the right of private defence in no case extends to the inflicting of more harm than it is necessary to inflict for the purpose of defence.
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