● Modified in BNS
The right of private defence of the body extends to voluntarily causing death of the assailant in six situations -- assault reasonably causing fear of death, grievous hurt, rape, unnatural lust, kidnapping, or wrongful confinement without hope of help. BNS Section 38 keeps all six and adds a genuinely new seventh: throwing or administering (or attempting to throw or administer) acid where grievous hurt may reasonably be apprehended.
Section 100 IPC extended the right of private defence of the body to voluntarily causing death (or any other harm) to an assailant, subject to Section 99's restrictions, where the offence provoking the exercise of the right was: an assault reasonably causing apprehension of death; an assault reasonably causing apprehension of grievous hurt; an assault with intent to commit rape; an assault with intent to gratify unnatural lust; an assault with intent to kidnap or abduct; or an assault with intent to wrongfully confine a person under circumstances reasonably causing apprehension they would be unable to seek help from public authorities.
BNS Section 38 reproduces all six original categories verbatim as lettered clauses (a)-(f), updating the cross-reference to the BNS's renumbered equivalent of Section 99. It adds a genuinely new seventh category, clause (g): an act of throwing or administering acid, or an attempt to do so, which may reasonably cause apprehension that grievous hurt will otherwise result -- extending the right to use lethal force in defence against acid attacks, which the IPC did not explicitly cover.
Six of the seven categories are unchanged, renumbered only. BNS adds a genuinely new seventh category extending the right of private defence, including lethal force, to acid-attack scenarios -- a real substantive expansion the IPC did not have.
This is a definitional provision describing the scope of a right, not an offence; whether a killing falls within its categories is itself the defence available under IPC 300 Exception 2 / BNS 101's equivalent exception for exceeding private defence in good faith.
Summaries are for general information and are not legal advice. For the authoritative bare-act text, see the official Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Indian Penal Code, 1860 (full amended text, as it stood before repeal) on India Code, or the Ministry of Home Affairs' new criminal laws page. ← All comparisons