Section 25 provides that an act neither intended nor known by the doer to be likely to cause death or grievous hurt is not an offence, by reason of any harm it may cause or be intended to cause, to a person above eighteen years of age who has given consent (express or implied) to suffer that harm or to take the risk of it.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal) and cross-checked directly against the bare text of both Acts. Section 25 is marked Exact correspondence:
| BNS 25 | Covers | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Act not intended and not known to be likely to cause death or grievous hurt, done by consent | S.87 (word-for-word identical rule and illustration) | Exact |
Comparing the bare text directly, BNS Section 25 reproduces old IPC Section 87, including its illustration, without any change whatsoever, down to the exact wording.
Nothing which is not intended to cause death, or grievous hurt, and which is not known by the doer to be likely to cause death or grievous hurt, is an offence by reason of any harm which it may cause, or be intended by the doer to cause, to any person, above eighteen years of age, who has given consent, whether express or implied, to suffer that harm; or by reason of any harm which it may be known by the doer to be likely to cause to any such person who has consented to take the risk of that harm.
Illustration.
A and Z agree to fence with each other for amusement. This agreement implies the consent of each to suffer any harm which, in the course of such fencing, may be caused without foul play; and if A, while playing fairly, hurts Z, A commits no offence.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
This section recognises that an adult can validly consent to accept a certain level of risk of harm in activities like sport, games, or other mutually agreed conduct, and that a person acting within the bounds of that consent commits no offence. But the protection has a firm outer boundary: it applies only where the act itself was neither intended nor known by the doer to be likely to cause death or grievous hurt. If the doer intended, or knew it was likely, that the act could cause death or grievous hurt, this section offers no protection at all, however clearly the other person consented — consent to ordinary bumps and bruises in a contact sport is not consent to a deliberately life-threatening blow. The consenting person must also be above eighteen years of age, reflecting a policy choice that only adults are treated as capable of validly consenting to this kind of risk. The consent itself may be express (stated outright) or implied from the circumstances (such as agreeing to take part in an activity that obviously carries some risk of minor harm).
No. This section only protects an act that was neither intended nor known by the doer to be likely to cause death or grievous hurt. Where the doer knew or intended such serious harm, this section offers no protection, regardless of consent.
No. The section specifically requires the consenting person to be above eighteen years of age.
The act is not an offence at all — it is a complete defence, not merely a factor reducing punishment.