● Modified in BNS
Extortion means intentionally putting someone in fear of injury to dishonestly induce them to hand over property or a valuable security -- the definition in BNS Section 308(1) is unchanged from IPC 383, except for a new illustration covering extortion demands sent via electronic message. This is a definitional provision with no punishment of its own; the punishment for basic extortion (up to 7 years) sits in BNS Section 308(2), already covered by this tool under IPC 384.
Section 383 IPC defined extortion as intentionally putting a person in fear of injury to themselves or another, and thereby dishonestly inducing them to deliver property, valuable security, or anything signed or sealed that could be converted into a valuable security. Four illustrations accompanied the definition, covering threats of defamation, wrongful confinement of a child, destruction of crops, and grievous hurt used to obtain a signature on a blank paper.
BNS Section 308(1) reproduces the definition and all four original illustrations verbatim, then adds a fifth, new illustration with no IPC counterpart: a threat sent "through an electronic device" demanding money for a supposedly kidnapped child, modelled on a modern SMS/messaging ransom-demand scenario. No other wording changes.
The core definition is unchanged. The one verified addition is a new fifth illustration depicting extortion carried out via an electronic-device message -- a real, sourced textual addition not present in IPC 383's original four illustrations.
This is a definitional provision; it carries no independent punishment, bail, cognizability or compounding rules of its own. Those sit under the companion punishment sub-sections, BNS 308(2) onward (IPC 384, already published), which scale punishment by the severity of the threat used.
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