● Retained in BNS
Destroying, damaging or defiling a place of worship or a sacred object, with intent to insult a class's religion or knowing it likely to be seen as such an insult, carries up to 2 years' imprisonment, or fine, or both under BNS Section 298, unchanged from IPC 295.
Section 295 IPC punished destroying, damaging or defiling a place of worship or an object held sacred by any class of persons, with the intention of insulting that class's religion, or knowing that class was likely to consider it an insult, with imprisonment up to 2 years, or fine, or both.
BNS Section 298 reproduces the offence verbatim, word for word -- no substantive change beyond dropping a comma and an article.
Nothing substantive -- a pure renumbering from IPC 295 to BNS 298.
Imprisonment of either description up to 2 years, or fine, or both..
IPC 295 is non-bailable..
This is a cognizable. offence.
Non-compoundable..
Matters under IPC 295 are tried before the Any Magistrate..
Common defences include absence of the intent to insult a class's religion or knowledge that the act would likely be seen as such, and that the object or place did not qualify as one held sacred by an identifiable class.
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