● Retained in BNS
Involuntary intoxication -- administered without a person's knowledge or against their will, leaving them incapable of knowing the act was wrong or unlawful -- remains a complete defence under BNS Section 23, unchanged from IPC 85. Voluntary intoxication is not covered by this exception.
Section 85 IPC provided that nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, by reason of intoxication, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act or that it was wrong or contrary to law, provided the intoxicant was administered without their knowledge or against their will. Voluntary intoxication was addressed separately (IPC 86), which does not excuse the offence but limits how intent or knowledge is imputed.
BNS Section 23 reproduces the exception essentially verbatim -- no substantive change.
Nothing substantive changed -- a pure renumbering from IPC 85 to BNS 23.
This general exception is itself a defence: intoxication administered without the person's knowledge or against their will, such that they could not know the act was wrong or unlawful, negates criminal liability -- but only where the intoxication was involuntary.
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