Section 255 punishes a public servant who knowingly disobeys a direction of the law about how he is to conduct himself as a public servant, intending (or knowing it to be likely) that he will thereby save a person from legal punishment, subject him to a lesser punishment, or save property from forfeiture or from a charge to which it is liable by law. The punishment is imprisonment of either description for up to two years, or fine, or both.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau’s official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal) and compared word by word with the bare text of both Acts. Section 255 is marked Exact correspondence — it maps to one section of the old Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the two texts carry the same words:
| BNS 255 | Covers | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 255 | Public servant disobeying direction of law with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture | S.217 “Public servant disobeying direction of law with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture” | Exact |
A word-by-word comparison of BNS 255 with IPC 217, including punctuation, found no difference in wording or punctuation. The only points at which the two texts differ are the section number (217 in the IPC, 255 in the BNS) and the marginal heading, which is the same in both. The punishment, imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both, is the same in both Acts.
Whoever, being a public servant, knowingly disobeys any direction of the law as to the way in which he is to conduct himself as such public servant, intending thereby to save, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby save, any person from legal punishment, or subject him to a less punishment than that to which he is liable, or with intent to save, or knowing that he is likely thereby to save, any property from forfeiture or any charge to which it is liable by law, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two 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.
Section 255 is a single sentence with four working parts. First, the accused must be a public servant (“Whoever, being a public servant”). Second, he must “knowingly” disobey “any direction of the law as to the way in which he is to conduct himself as such public servant”. Third, the disobedience must be accompanied by one of two kinds of intention or likely result. As to a person: “intending thereby to save, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby save, any person from legal punishment, or subject him to a less punishment than that to which he is liable”. As to property: “with intent to save, or knowing that he is likely thereby to save, any property from forfeiture or any charge to which it is liable by law”. Fourth, the punishment is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or fine, or both.
“Public servant” is defined in Section 2(28), which lists the descriptions of persons who are public servants. Explanation (a) to that clause says that persons falling under any of the descriptions are public servants, whether appointed by the Government or not, and Explanation (b) says that every person who is in actual possession of the situation of a public servant, whatever legal defect there may be in his right to hold that situation, is a public servant. The phrase “direction of the law” is not defined in Section 2. The section confines the directions it speaks of to those “as to the way in which he is to conduct himself as such public servant”, that is, directions of law about the public servant’s own conduct in that capacity.
The mental element appears twice, and each time in two forms: “intending thereby to save, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby save”, and “with intent to save, or knowing that he is likely thereby to save”. The word “knowingly” attaches to the disobedience itself. The possible results are joined by “or”: saving a person from legal punishment; subjecting a person to a less punishment than that to which he is liable; and saving property from forfeiture or from any charge to which it is liable by law. Any one of these, with the required intention or knowledge, is enough on the words of the section.
Section 255 opens with the same words as Section 198 (“Whoever, being a public servant, knowingly disobeys any direction of the law as to the way in which he is to conduct himself as such public servant”), but the two sections are completed differently. Section 198 requires “intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will by such disobedience, cause injury to any person”, and provides simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or fine, or both. Section 255 concerns saving a person or property, and provides imprisonment of either description for up to two years, or fine, or both. Section 256 concerns a public servant who frames an incorrect record or writing, rather than one who disobeys a direction of law.
The section states no sum for the fine, so Section 8(1) applies: where no sum is expressed to which a fine may extend, the amount of fine to which the offender is liable is unlimited, but shall not be excessive.
Under the BNSS First Schedule the offence is non-cognizable, bailable and triable by any Magistrate. Under BNSS Section 2(1)(o) a police officer has no authority to arrest without warrant in a non-cognizable case, and under BNSS Section 174(2) no police officer shall investigate a non-cognizable case without the order of a Magistrate having power to try such case or commit the case for trial. The offence is not compoundable under BNSS Section 359.
Section 2(28) of the Sanhita lists the descriptions of persons who are public servants. Its Explanation (a) says persons falling under those descriptions are public servants whether appointed by the Government or not, and Explanation (b) says that every person in actual possession of the situation of a public servant is a public servant, whatever legal defect there may be in his right to hold it.
The section gives both forms: “intending thereby to save, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby save”, and, for property, “with intent to save, or knowing that he is likely thereby to save”. The disobedience itself must be done “knowingly”.
Not on the words of the section. It speaks of “any direction of the law as to the way in which he is to conduct himself as such public servant”, knowingly disobeyed, together with one of the stated results: saving a person from legal punishment, subjecting him to a less punishment than that to which he is liable, or saving property from forfeiture or any charge to which it is liable by law.
Both begin with a public servant who knowingly disobeys a direction of the law as to the way in which he is to conduct himself as such. Section 198 then requires an intention to cause injury to any person (or knowledge that it is likely), with simple imprisonment up to one year, or fine, or both. Section 255 concerns saving a person from punishment or property from forfeiture, with imprisonment of either description up to two years, or fine, or both.
Under the BNSS First Schedule the offence is non-cognizable and bailable and is triable by any Magistrate. Non-cognizable means, under BNSS Section 2(1)(o), that a police officer has no authority to arrest without warrant, and BNSS Section 174(2) says no police officer shall investigate a non-cognizable case without the order of a Magistrate having power to try it or commit it for trial. For a bailable offence, BNSS Section 478(1) provides that a person other than one accused of a non-bailable offence, who is arrested or detained without warrant by an officer in charge of a police station or appears or is brought before a Court, and is prepared to give bail, “shall be released on bail”.