Section 191 defines rioting as the use of force or violence by an unlawful assembly, or any member of it, in pursuit of the assembly's common object, making every member of that assembly guilty of rioting; sets the punishment for rioting at imprisonment of either description up to two years, or fine, or both; and sets a higher punishment of imprisonment of either description up to five years, or fine, or both, where the rioter was armed with a deadly weapon.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which maps Section 191 to old IPC Sections 146, 147, and 148 (marked "(Change)" in the concordance), and cross-checked directly against the bare text of all three.
| BNS section | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 191 | 146, 147, 148 | Substantively changed |
Substantively changed: The old IPC spread rioting across three separate sections — old Section 146 (the definition of rioting itself), old Section 147 (the base punishment, two years), and old Section 148 (punishment where armed with a deadly weapon, three years). Section 191 consolidates these into one section with three sub-sections. Sub-section (1) (the definition) and sub-section (2) (the base two-year punishment) are word-for-word identical to old Sections 146 and 147 respectively. Sub-section (3), however, raises the punishment for rioting while armed with a deadly weapon from old Section 148's three-year cap to five years — the only substantive change, alongside the structural consolidation into one section.
(1) Whenever force or violence is used by an unlawful assembly, or by any member thereof, in prosecution of the common object of such assembly, every member of such assembly is guilty of the offence of rioting.
(2) Whoever is guilty of rioting, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
(3) Whoever is guilty of rioting, being armed with a deadly weapon or with anything which, used as a weapon of offence, is likely to cause death, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
Rioting is what an unlawful assembly (as defined in Section 189) becomes the moment force or violence is actually used, by the assembly as a whole or by even one of its members, in pursuit of the shared common object. Every member of the assembly is then guilty of rioting, regardless of who actually used the force.
Anyone found guilty of rioting under sub-section (1) faces imprisonment of either description up to two years, or fine, or both.
Where the person guilty of rioting was armed with a deadly weapon, or anything capable of causing death if used as a weapon, the punishment ceiling rises to five years.
These judgment(s) relate to Section 191 as a whole rather than to one specific sub-section, and so are presented together here rather than alongside a particular clause above.
Three people died and five were injured in an alleged attack by 17 persons. The Sessions Court convicted four accused and acquitted 13; the High Court dismissed the State’s appeals against the acquittals, and the matter reached the Supreme Court. That Court found that the charges had not been framed clearly and that there was no clear finding on the existence of an unlawful assembly, but it still did not reverse the acquittals, because a retrial after 26 years would serve no useful purpose, and it ordered compensation for the victims.
Explaining the scheme of the old Penal Code, the Court said that the offence of rioting arises when force or violence is used by an unlawful assembly or any member of it, and that armed rioting is a distinct, more serious offence, because the person charged must himself be armed with a deadly weapon. Note that the “three years” in the quoted sentence is the maximum under the old Code (Section 148). Under Section 191(3) of the Sanhita the maximum for rioting with a deadly weapon is five years.
Yes. An unlawful assembly under Section 189 becomes rioting the moment force or violence is actually used by the assembly, or any of its members, in pursuit of the shared common object.
Imprisonment of either description up to five years, or fine, or both — raised from the old law's three-year cap.
Sub-section (3)'s higher punishment applies specifically to the member who was armed with a deadly weapon; other members remain liable under sub-section (2)'s base punishment.