● Modified in BNS
Rioting while armed with a deadly weapon carries up to 5 years' imprisonment under BNS Section 191(3), up from a 3-year ceiling under IPC 148 -- one of the larger sentencing increases among the rioting-cluster provisions. It remains a bailable, cognizable offence, but is now tried before a Magistrate of the first class rather than any Magistrate.
Section 148 IPC punished rioting (as defined in Section 146: force or violence used by an unlawful assembly or any member of it, in prosecution of the assembly's common object) when the rioter was armed with a deadly weapon or anything likely, if used as a weapon, to cause death. It carried a higher maximum sentence than base rioting under Section 147, at up to 3 years' imprisonment, fine, or both.
BNS Section 191(3) reproduces the offence unchanged in substance but raises the maximum imprisonment from 3 years to 5 years, and moves the trial forum up from "Any Magistrate" (which handles base rioting under 191(2)) to a Magistrate of the first class.
The maximum sentence for rioting while armed with a deadly weapon rises from 3 to 5 years -- a real, verified sentencing increase -- and the offence is now tried before a Magistrate of the first class rather than any Magistrate. The offence definition itself is unchanged.
Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 5 years (up from 3 years under the IPC), or fine, or both..
IPC 148 is bailable..
This is a cognizable. offence.
Non-compoundable..
Matters under IPC 148 are tried before the Magistrate of the First Class..
Common defences include absence of the accused's own membership of the unlawful assembly at the time force was used, absence of a deadly weapon on the accused specifically, or that the force used did not occur in prosecution of the assembly's common object.
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