Section 222 punishes whoever, being bound by law to render or furnish assistance to a public servant in the execution of their public duty, intentionally omits to give such assistance: with simple imprisonment of up to one month, or fine of up to two thousand five hundred rupees, or both, under clause (a); and, where the assistance is demanded by a public servant legally competent to make that demand for executing a lawfully issued process, preventing an offence, suppressing a riot or affray, or apprehending a person charged with, guilty of, or escaped from custody for an offence, with simple imprisonment of up to six months, or fine of up to five thousand rupees, or both, under clause (b).
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which maps Section 222 to old IPC Section 187, and independently against the text of Section 187 itself as found in the edition of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 consulted for this book.
| BNS section | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 222 | 187 | Substantively changed |
Substantively changed: old IPC Section 187 expressed the same two-tier conduct and punishment structure as a single continuous sentence rather than as separate lettered clauses. Section 222 restructures this into clauses (a) and (b). The fine caps have been raised in both tiers: from two hundred rupees to two thousand five hundred rupees under clause (a), and from five hundred rupees to five thousand rupees under clause (b). "Court of Justice" has been replaced with "Court." The underlying conduct and the imprisonment caps (one month and six months respectively) are unchanged.
Whoever, being bound by law to render or furnish assistance to any public servant in the execution of his public duty, intentionally omits to give such assistance,—
(a) shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two thousand and five hundred rupees, or with both;
(b) and where such assistance be demanded of him by a public servant legally competent to make such demand for the purposes of executing any process lawfully issued by a Court or of preventing the commission of an offence, or suppressing a riot, or affray, or of apprehending a person charged with or guilty of an offence, or of having escaped from lawful custody, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
A person legally bound to render or furnish assistance to a public servant in the execution of their public duty, who intentionally omits to give that assistance, falls within this base clause.
Where the demand for assistance is made by a competent public servant specifically for executing a lawfully issued process, preventing an offence, suppressing a riot or affray, or apprehending a person charged with, guilty of, or escaped from custody for an offence, the heavier punishment under this clause applies instead.
Clause (a) is the general, lighter-punished tier. Clause (b) applies the heavier punishment where the demand for assistance was made for one of the specific urgent purposes listed, such as suppressing a riot or apprehending an offender.
Clause (a): simple imprisonment up to one month, or fine up to two thousand five hundred rupees, or both. Clause (b): simple imprisonment up to six months, or fine up to five thousand rupees, or both.
The fine caps have been substantially raised in both tiers, and the provision has been restructured from a single continuous sentence into separate lettered clauses.