Section 154 punishes committing depredation, or making preparations to commit depredation, on the territories of any foreign State at peace with the Government of India, with imprisonment up to seven years, fine, and forfeiture of any property used, intended to be used, or acquired in committing such depredation.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which maps Section 154 to old IPC Section 126, and cross-checked directly against the bare text of both Acts.
| BNS section | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 154 | 126 | Substantively changed |
Substantively changed: Old IPC Section 126 protected the territories of "any Power in alliance or at peace with" the Government of India. Section 154 protects the territories of "any foreign State at peace with" the Government of India — it replaces the word "Power" with "foreign State" and drops the "in alliance or" language, leaving only "at peace with" as the qualifying relationship. The punishment clause itself — imprisonment up to seven years, fine, and forfeiture of property used, intended to be used, or acquired in the depredation — is otherwise identical.
Whoever commits depredation, or makes preparations to commit depredation, on the territories of any foreign State at peace with the Government of India, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine and to forfeiture of any property used or intended to be used in committing such depredation, or acquired by such depredation.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
"Depredation" refers to plundering or ravaging — raiding and looting territory rather than formally waging war on its government. This section covers both the completed act of committing depredation and merely making preparations to commit it, and adds a forfeiture consequence on top of imprisonment and fine, reaching any property used, intended to be used, or acquired through the depredation.
Section 153 punishes waging war against the Government of a foreign State at peace with India. Section 154 instead punishes depredation — plundering or raiding — on that foreign State's territories, rather than waging war against its Government.
Yes. The section expressly covers making preparations to commit depredation, not only the completed act.
Alongside imprisonment and fine, the section provides for forfeiture of any property used or intended to be used in committing the depredation, or acquired by it.