Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Section 225

Threat of Injury to Induce Person to Refrain from Applying for Protection to Public Servant

Section 225 punishes whoever holds out any threat of injury to any person for the purpose of inducing that person to refrain or desist from making a legal application for protection against any injury to any public servant legally empowered as such to give such protection, or to cause such protection to be given, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

Please note: This page reflects our understanding of the law as of the date it was last reviewed. Parliament, the State Legislatures, and the courts continue to amend and interpret this law, and this page may not yet reflect the most recent change. Please verify the current text of the law independently, and consult a licensed advocate for advice on your own matter, before relying on this page.

Corresponding Provision Under Prior Law

Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which maps Section 225 to old IPC Section 190, and independently against the text of Section 190 itself in the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

BNS section	IPC, 1860 equivalent	Category
225	190	Exact

Exact: the wording, the ingredients, and the punishment (imprisonment of either description up to one year, or fine, or both) are carried forward from old IPC Section 190 without any substantive change.

Quick Reference

Per the First Schedule to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: punishable with imprisonment for 1 year, or fine, or both — non-cognizable, bailable, and triable by any Magistrate. Not compoundable: Section 225 appears in neither compounding table of Section 359 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. In the First Schedule, “any Magistrate” does not include Executive Magistrates (Explanatory Note (2)).

Statutory Text (Verbatim)

Whoever holds out any threat of injury to any person for the purpose of inducing that person to refrain or desist from making a legal application for protection against any injury to any public servant legally empowered as such to give such protection, or to cause such protection to be given, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.

Explanation & Illustration (Lexovia's Commentary — Not Statutory Text)

Threatening a person to stop them from seeking a public servant's protection

Explanation (Lexovia's Commentary)

Unlike Section 224, where the threat is meant to influence the public servant directly, this section targets threats made to a third person to deter them from lawfully applying for the public servant's protection against injury to another party, or from causing that protection to be given.

Illustration (Lexovia's Own Example)

A person threatens a witness with harm to dissuade them from applying to the local police for protection against threatened injury to a shopkeeper. This falls within the section.

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Related / Cross-Referenced Sections

FAQs

How is this different from Section 224?

Section 224 punishes threats aimed at making a public servant act, forbear, or delay. Section 225 punishes threats aimed at a third person to stop them from applying for that public servant's protection.

What is the punishment under this section?

Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or fine, or both.

What changed compared to the old law?

Nothing substantive. The wording, ingredients, and punishment are carried forward unchanged from old IPC Section 190.