● Retained in BNS
Section 149 is a vicarious-liability provision: it makes every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed by any member in prosecution of the assembly's common object, or one the members knew was likely. BNS Section 190 reproduces it word for word, with punishment, bail and cognizability all following whatever the underlying offence turns out to be.
Section 149 IPC made every person who was a member of an unlawful assembly at the time an offence was committed -- in prosecution of the assembly's common object, or one its members knew was likely -- guilty of that offence, regardless of who physically committed it.
BNS Section 190 reproduces Section 149 verbatim, with no substantive change. It remains a constructive-liability provision rather than a standalone offence.
Unchanged in substance. Pure renumbering from IPC 149 to BNS 190 with identical text and identical "follows the underlying offence" treatment.
Same as the offence actually committed by the assembly -- Section 190 carries no independent punishment of its own..
IPC 149 is follows the bailability of the underlying offence..
This is a follows the cognizability of the underlying offence. offence.
Generally follows the underlying offence's compounding rules (BNSS s.359(3))..
Matters under IPC 149 are tried before the The court by which the underlying offence is triable..
Common defences include showing the accused was not a member of the assembly at the relevant time, that the offence fell outside the assembly's common object and was not a foreseeable consequence of pursuing it, or that the accused withdrew from the assembly before the offence occurred.
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