Section 301 punishes a person who, intending to wound anyone's feelings or insult anyone's religion (or knowing that this is likely), trespasses in a place of worship or burial place, offers indignity to a human corpse, or disturbs persons assembled for funeral ceremonies. The punishment is imprisonment of up to one year, or fine, or both. It corresponds to IPC Section 297, with one word of difference in the text.
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. The concordance carries no change tag for this row, and a word-by-word comparison shows one difference in wording, a spelling variant only, so Lexovia classifies Section 301 as Exact, with the spelling difference noted below. It descends from one section of the old Indian Penal Code, 1860:
| BNS 301 | Covers | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 301 | Trespassing on burial places, etc. | S.297 “Trespassing on burial places, etc.” | Exact |
The only difference between the two texts is one word in the list of places, a drafting-level spelling difference that does not change the offence. IPC Section 297 refers to “any place of sepulture”; BNS Section 301 refers to “any place of sepulchre”. The mental element (intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or of insulting the religion of any person, or knowledge that such wounding or insult is likely), the three kinds of act (trespass in a place of worship or on a place of sepulchre or funeral rites or depository for the dead; indignity to a human corpse; disturbance to persons assembled for funeral ceremonies) and the punishment (imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or fine, or both) are otherwise the same in both Acts.
Whoever, with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or of insulting the religion of any person, or with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted thereby, commits any trespass in any place of worship or on any place of sepulchre, or any place set apart for the performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity to any human corpse, or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies, 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.
Section 301 is built from two parts that must both be present: a required state of mind and one of several listed acts. The state of mind is either (a) an intention of wounding the feelings of any person or of insulting the religion of any person, or (b) knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted, “thereby” — that is, by the act. The word “thereby” links the mental state to the act: the intention or knowledge must relate to the act that follows. Notice that, unlike Section 299, the mental state is not required to be “deliberate and malicious”; either intention or knowledge is enough.
The acts are set out as alternatives. The accused must either (i) commit any trespass in any place of worship, or on any place of sepulchre, or any place set apart for the performance of funeral rites, or as a depository for the remains of the dead; or (ii) offer any indignity to any human corpse; or (iii) cause disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies. Proof of any one of these, together with the required intention or knowledge, is enough. The word “trespass” is used here without a definition in this section itself. The Sanhita separately defines criminal trespass in Section 329(1) as entering into or upon property in the possession of another with intent to commit an offence or to intimidate, insult or annoy the person in possession, or unlawfully remaining there with such intent, and the reader should compare the two provisions rather than assume they are identical.
Two points help distinguish this from neighbouring sections. Section 300 (disturbing a religious assembly) concerns assemblies engaged in worship or religious ceremonies and needs no particular intention or knowledge about wounding feelings; Section 301, by contrast, covers disturbance to persons assembled for funeral ceremonies and does need that intention or knowledge. Section 298 concerns injuring or defiling a place of worship or sacred object with intent to insult a class's religion, whereas Section 301 concerns trespass on such places. On classification, the BNSS First Schedule lists the offence as cognizable, bailable and triable by any Magistrate. It appears in neither compounding table of BNSS Section 359, so it is not compoundable. Punishment is imprisonment of either description (simple or rigorous) for up to one year, or fine, or both; the amount of the fine is not fixed by the section.
Imprisonment of either description (simple or rigorous) for a term which may extend to one year, or fine, or both. The amount of the fine is not fixed by the section.
Under the First Schedule to the BNSS it is cognizable and bailable, and triable by any Magistrate. Bail is a matter of right (BNSS Section 478). It is not compoundable under BNSS Section 359.
Either is enough. The section applies where the accused acts with the intention of wounding feelings or insulting religion, or with the knowledge that wounding of feelings or insult to religion is likely to result from the act.
Trespass in a place of worship or on a place of sepulchre, a place set apart for funeral rites or a depository for the remains of the dead; offering any indignity to a human corpse; and causing disturbance to persons assembled for funeral ceremonies.
One word: the IPC's “place of sepulture” appears in the BNS as “place of sepulchre”. The punishment and every other part of the text are the same.