Section 117 defines and punishes voluntarily causing grievous hurt (as defined at Section 116), and adds two enhanced tiers: one where the hurt results in permanent disability or a persistent vegetative state, and one where grievous hurt is caused by a group of five or more persons acting on specified discriminatory grounds.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which flags Section 117 overall as containing a change, mapping sub-section (1) to old IPC Section 322 and sub-section (2) to old IPC Section 325, and cross-checked directly against the bare text of all provisions.
| BNS section | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 117(1) | 322 | Substantively changed |
| 117(2) | 325 | Exact |
| 117(3) | — (none) | No predecessor |
| 117(4) | — (none) | No predecessor |
Comparing the texts word for word: sub-section (1)'s operative definition and Explanation match old IPC Section 322, but its own statutory illustration changes the severe-bodily-pain threshold from twenty days to fifteen days — consistent with the same delta already found at Section 116(h). Sub-section (2) matches old IPC Section 325 in substance (seven years and fine); its internal cross-reference has been updated from old IPC Section 335 to the BNS's own Section 122(2), confirmed to be the same "grievous hurt on provocation" exception, renumbered rather than newly created. Sub-sections (3) and (4) have no IPC predecessor.
| Sub-section | Conduct | Punishment | Cognizable / Bailable / Court |
|---|---|---|---|
| (2) | Voluntarily causing grievous hurt | Imprisonment for 7 years and fine | Cognizable, Bailable, Any Magistrate |
| (3) | Resulting in permanent disability or persistent vegetative state | Rigorous imprisonment for not less than 10 years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean the remainder of that person's natural life | Cognizable, Non-bailable, Court of Session |
| (4) | Grievous hurt by a group of 5 or more persons on specified grounds | Imprisonment for 7 years and fine | Cognizable, Non-bailable, Court of Session |
(1) Whoever voluntarily causes hurt, if the hurt which he intends to cause or knows himself to be likely to cause is grievous hurt, and if the hurt which he causes is grievous hurt, is said "voluntarily to cause grievous hurt".
Explanation.—A person is not said voluntarily to cause grievous hurt except when he both causes grievous hurt and intends or knows himself to be likely to cause grievous hurt. But he is said voluntarily to cause grievous hurt, if intending or knowing himself to be likely to cause grievous hurt of one kind, he actually causes grievous hurt of another kind.
Illustration.
A, intending of knowing himself to be likely permanently to disfigure Z's face, gives Z a blow which does not permanently disfigure Z's face, but which causes Z to suffer severe bodily pain for the space of fifteen days. A has voluntarily caused grievous hurt.
(2) Whoever, except in the case provided for by sub-section (2) of section 122, voluntarily causes grievous hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
(3) Whoever commits an offence under sub-section (1) and in the course of such commission causes any hurt to a person which causes that person to be in permanent disability or in persistent vegetative state, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life.
(4) When a group of five or more persons acting in concert, causes grievous hurt to a person on the ground of his race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other similar ground, each member of such group shall be guilty of the offence of causing grievous hurt, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven 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.
This sub-section defines "voluntarily causing grievous hurt": the person must both intend, or know themselves likely, to cause grievous hurt, and must actually cause grievous hurt. The Explanation clarifies that intending or knowing oneself likely to cause one kind of grievous hurt is enough, even if a different kind of grievous hurt actually results.
This sub-section punishes voluntarily causing grievous hurt as defined in sub-section (1), except where the hurt falls under the separate provocation exception in Section 122(2), with imprisonment up to seven years and fine.
This sub-section significantly enhances the punishment where an offence under sub-section (1) results in the victim being left in permanent disability or a persistent vegetative state, raising the minimum term to ten years, extending up to imprisonment for life meaning the remainder of the offender's natural life.
This sub-section addresses grievous hurt caused by a group of five or more people acting in concert, on grounds such as race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, or personal belief. Every member of the group is made guilty of causing grievous hurt, each facing imprisonment up to seven years, and fine.
These judgment(s) relate to Section 117 as a whole rather than to one specific sub-section, and so are presented together here rather than alongside a particular clause above.
Having found the evidence insufficient to sustain attempt to murder (Section 109) for want of proven murder-quality intention, the Supreme Court held the same injuries — fractures to both parietal bones with neurological complications, resulting from an assault with ordinary lathis — squarely satisfied Section 117's own definition of grievous hurt (a fracture or dislocation of a bone, and separately, a hurt endangering life). The conviction was accordingly substituted for voluntarily causing grievous hurt in furtherance of common intention.
Currency check: decided May 2026; no overruling found in this review.
A second, independent Supreme Court holding that a fracture or dislocation of a bone — proved here through an X-ray report — satisfies clause (7) of the grievous-hurt definition (Section 116 BNS) and, once voluntarily inflicted, completes the offence under Section 117. This reinforces the fracture-based holding in Roshan Lal above with a second, independently reasoned authority on the same clause.
Sub-section (1)'s own statutory illustration shortens the severe-bodily-pain threshold from twenty days to fifteen days, matching the same change made to the general grievous-hurt definition at Section 116(h). Sub-sections (3) (permanent disability or persistent vegetative state) and (4) (group offences on discriminatory grounds) are entirely new, with no IPC predecessor.
No. The sub-section states that "each member of such group shall be guilty," where the group acts in concert on the specified grounds — it does not require proof that each individual member personally delivered the injuring blow.
It depends on the tier. Sub-section (2) (the ordinary offence) is cognizable and bailable, triable by any Magistrate. Sub-sections (3) and (4) are cognizable and non-bailable, triable by the Court of Session.