Section 106 punishes causing death by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, with imprisonment of either description up to five years and fine — reduced to up to two years and fine where the act is done by a registered medical practitioner while performing a medical procedure. Sub-section (2) separately punishes causing death by rash and negligent driving of a vehicle, followed by escaping without reporting the incident to a police officer or Magistrate, with imprisonment up to ten years and fine.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which maps Section 106 to old IPC Section 304A and itself flags the mapping as "(Change)," and cross-checked directly against the bare text of both Acts.
| BNS section | Covers | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 106(1) | General death by negligence, and the reduced medical-practitioner tier | 304A | Substantively changed |
| 106(2) | Death by rash/negligent driving followed by escape without reporting | — | No predecessor |
Comparing sub-section (1) with old IPC Section 304A: the maximum punishment for the general offence is raised from two years to five years, and fine, which old IPC 304A made optional or alternative ("or with fine, or with both"), is now mandatory ("and shall also be liable to fine"). BNS Section 106(1) also adds an entirely new, reduced punishment tier — imprisonment up to two years and fine — specifically for a registered medical practitioner performing a medical procedure, with its own Explanation defining that term by reference to the National Medical Commission Act, 2019. Sub-section (2), covering death by rash or negligent driving followed by escaping without reporting the incident, has no equivalent under the old Indian Penal Code, 1860, and is entirely new.
(1) Whoever causes death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine; and if such act is done by a registered medical practitioner while performing medical procedure, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, “registered medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner who possesses any medical qualification recognised under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 and whose name has been entered in the National Medical Register or a State Medical Register under that Act.
(2) Whoever causes death of any person by rash and negligent driving of vehicle not amounting to culpable homicide, and escapes without reporting it to a police officer or a Magistrate soon after the incident, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description of a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
Sub-section (1) punishes causing a person's death through a rash or negligent act that does not amount to culpable homicide — that is, without the intent or knowledge that would make it culpable homicide under Section 100. The ordinary punishment is imprisonment up to five years, and fine. Where the act causing death is done by a registered medical practitioner while performing a medical procedure, the punishment is reduced to imprisonment up to two years, and fine. The Explanation defines "registered medical practitioner" by reference to qualification and registration under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.
Sub-section (2) adds a distinct, more serious offence where a person causes death by rash and negligent driving of a vehicle, not amounting to culpable homicide, and then escapes without reporting the incident to a police officer or a Magistrate soon after. The escape-without-reporting element is what separates this offence from the general negligence offence in sub-section (1), and it carries a substantially higher maximum punishment of imprisonment up to ten years, and fine.
These judgment(s) relate to Section 106 as a whole rather than to one specific sub-section, and so are presented together here rather than alongside a particular clause above.
The appellant was convicted of causing death by rash or negligent driving and sentenced to six months' imprisonment, a conviction upheld through two levels of appeal. The Supreme Court declined to disturb the conviction itself, but exercised its discretion to extend the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act — setting aside the custodial sentence — conditioned on the appellant paying Rs.10,00,000 in compensation to the deceased's surviving heirs, illustrating how this offence's punishment can be tempered through probation and compensation rather than imprisonment where the case does not involve malicious intent.
Currency check: decided April 2025, a very recent authority; no adverse subsequent history found.
This project's own local copy of the concordance carries a bracketed note that sub-section (2) was not to come into force on 1st July 2024. Please verify sub-section (2)'s current commencement status independently before relying on it.
The reduced tier applies specifically where the negligent act causing death is done by a registered medical practitioner while performing a medical procedure, reflecting the distinct risk context of medical treatment as against ordinary negligence.
Sub-section (2) requires, in addition to death caused by rash and negligent driving, that the person then escapes without reporting the incident to a police officer or a Magistrate soon after — an element sub-section (1) does not require.