Section 151 punishes assaulting, wrongfully restraining, or overawing (or attempting to) the President of India or the Governor of any State, with intent to induce or compel them to exercise, or refrain from exercising, any lawful power, with imprisonment up to seven years and fine.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which maps Section 151 to old IPC Section 124, and cross-checked directly against the bare text of both Acts.
| BNS section | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 151 | 124 | Exact |
Comparing the two texts word for word (old IPC Section 124's text carries several historical amendment footnotes reflecting successive changes from "Governor General" to "President" and similar terminology updates over time, but its final, current operative text matches this section exactly), Section 151 is reproduced without any change from old IPC Section 124.
Whoever, with the intention of inducing or compelling the President of India, or Governor of any State, to exercise or refrain from exercising in any manner any of the lawful powers of such President or Governor, assaults or wrongfully restrains, or attempts wrongfully to restrain, or overawes, by means of criminal force or the show of criminal force, or attempts so to overawe, such President or Governor, 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 section specifically protects the President of India and State Governors from being coerced, through assault, wrongful restraint, or overawing by criminal force (or its mere show), into exercising or not exercising their lawful powers in a particular way. Both the completed act and an attempt to carry it out are covered. The offence requires the specific intention of inducing or compelling the President or Governor regarding the exercise of their lawful powers — it is not a general assault offence but one specifically tied to interference with high constitutional office.
No. The section also covers overawing by the mere show of criminal force, and attempts to restrain or overawe, without requiring that the President or Governor actually be physically touched.
The accused must intend to induce or compel the President or Governor to exercise, or refrain from exercising, any of their lawful powers in a particular manner.
This section specifically protects the President of India and the Governor of any State. It does not extend to other officials, who may instead be covered by other provisions in this Chapter or elsewhere, such as those addressing assault on public servants generally.