Section 310 defines dacoity — robbery committed or attempted by five or more persons acting together, counting those present and aiding — and then sets five related punishments. Dacoity itself carries imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment up to ten years, plus fine. If any one of the five commits murder in the course of the dacoity, every one of them is punishable with death, imprisonment for life or rigorous imprisonment of not less than ten years, plus fine. Preparing for dacoity carries rigorous imprisonment up to ten years plus fine; being one of five or more persons assembled to commit dacoity carries up to seven years plus fine; and belonging to a gang habitually committing dacoity carries life imprisonment or rigorous imprisonment up to ten years plus fine. It is the successor to IPC Sections 391, 395, 396, 399, 400 and 402, with a changed minimum for the murder case.
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 310 gathers six provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, into one section, so its overall character is Merged. The concordance also tags it “Change”; the word-by-word comparison locates the precise differences below:
| BNS 310 | Covers | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 310(1) | Definition of dacoity | S.391 “Dacoity” | Exact |
| 310(2) | Punishment for dacoity | S.395 “Punishment for dacoity” | Exact |
| 310(3) | Dacoity with murder | S.396 “Dacoity with murder” | Substantively changed |
| 310(4) | Making preparation to commit dacoity | S.399 “Making preparation to commit dacoity” | Exact |
| 310(5) | Assembling for the purpose of committing dacoity | S.402 “Assembling for purpose of committing dacoity” | Exact |
| 310(6) | Belonging to a gang of dacoits | S.400 “Punishment for belonging to gang of dacoits” | Exact |
Word-by-word comparison of the two statutes gives the following differences. (1) Sub-section (3). IPC Section 396 provided that every one of the persons shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. BNS Section 310(3) provides for death, or imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. The maximum-term formula has become a minimum-term formula. (2) Sub-sections (5) and (6). IPC Sections 402 and 400 each opened with “Whoever, at any time after the passing of this Act, shall be…” (Section 402) or “shall belong…” (Section 400). BNS Sections 310(5) and 310(6) open “Whoever is one of five or more persons…” and “Whoever belongs to a gang…” — the words “at any time after the passing of this Act” do not appear. The punishments are unchanged (rigorous imprisonment up to seven years and fine; and imprisonment for life or rigorous imprisonment up to ten years and fine). The dropped words are an archaic time reference and the ingredients, scope and punishment are the same, so these two rows are labelled Exact with the difference disclosed here. (3) Sub-sections (1), (2) and (4) are word-for-word the same as IPC Sections 391, 395 and 399 (apart from the removal of quotation marks around “dacoity” in the definition). The IPC numbers 391, 395, 396, 399, 400 and 402 thus appear in BNS as sub-sections (1), (2), (3), (4), (6) and (5) respectively. IPC Sections 397 and 398 (deadly weapon cases) are carried to BNS Sections 311 and 312, and IPC Section 401 (gang of thieves) to BNS Section 313.
(1) When five or more persons conjointly commit or attempt to commit a robbery, or where the whole number of persons conjointly committing or attempting to commit a robbery, and persons present and aiding such commission or attempt, amount to five or more, every person so committing, attempting or aiding, is said to commit dacoity.
(2) Whoever commits dacoity shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
(3) If any one of five or more persons, who are conjointly committing dacoity, commits murder in so committing dacoity, every one of those persons shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
(4) Whoever makes any preparation for committing dacoity, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
(5) Whoever is one of five or more persons assembled for the purpose of committing dacoity, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
(6) Whoever belongs to a gang of persons associated for the purpose of habitually committing dacoity, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
Sub-section (1) defines dacoity as robbery by a group. Two routes lead to the same result. On the first route, five or more persons conjointly commit or attempt to commit a robbery. On the second route, the number who conjointly commit or attempt the robbery, together with persons who are present and aiding the commission or attempt, adds up to five or more. In either case, every person so committing, attempting or aiding is said to commit dacoity. The second route matters because it counts persons who are present and aiding (for example, a person keeping watch), not just those who use the force.
The definition depends entirely on robbery, which is defined in Section 309: theft or extortion accompanied by the specified use or threat of instant harm or restraint. Dacoity is therefore not an independent kind of wrongdoing; it is robbery (or attempted robbery) plus the numerical element of five persons. If the number falls short of five, the offence is robbery under Section 309, punishable there. The Sanhita does not define “conjointly” in Section 2; in ordinary usage it means acting together in the commission, and not merely being in the same place.
Sub-section (1) is a definition only. It carries no punishment; that is provided in sub-section (2) for the offence itself and in the following sub-sections for related conduct. It corresponds word for word to IPC Section 391 (the BNS omits the quotation marks around “dacoity”). The statute is precise: dacoity is robbery, and the number five includes those present and aiding, and the section punishes every person counted.
Sub-section (2) fixes the punishment for the completed offence of dacoity as defined in sub-section (1): imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and the offender shall also be liable to fine. The court therefore chooses between two very different outcomes. Life imprisonment is the upper option; rigorous imprisonment up to ten years is the lower. In either case a fine may be added. The imprisonment cannot be simple.
The punishment applies to every person counted in sub-section (1): those who commit, attempt, or are present and aid. The sub-section does not distinguish between the person who uses force and the person who keeps watch. The punishment is heavier than that for ordinary robbery in Section 309(4) (rigorous imprisonment up to ten years, fourteen on the highway at night) because life imprisonment is available here.
Under the BNSS First Schedule dacoity is cognizable, non-bailable and triable by the Court of Session — in contrast to robbery, which is triable by a Magistrate of the first class. It is not in either compounding table of BNSS Section 359, so it cannot be compounded. The text matches IPC Section 395. Cases in which the dacoits use a deadly weapon, cause grievous hurt or attempt to cause death or grievous hurt are separately addressed in Section 311, and cases in which one of them commits murder are dealt with in sub-section (3).
Sub-section (3) applies when any one of five or more persons who are conjointly committing dacoity commits murder in so committing the dacoity. The consequence falls on every one of those persons, not just the killer: each shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Murder for this purpose is the offence defined in BNS Section 101 and punished separately in Section 103. The killing must occur in committing the dacoity; a murder unconnected with the dacoity does not attract this collective rule.
This is the one sub-section in Section 310 where the wording differs in an operative way from the IPC. IPC Section 396 allowed death, imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years. Sub-section (3) says rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years. Thus the third option in the list changes from a ten-year maximum to a ten-year minimum. The other words, including “death, or imprisonment for life” and “shall also be liable to fine”, are unchanged.
Under the BNSS First Schedule the offence is cognizable, non-bailable and triable by the Court of Session, and it is not compoundable. The sub-section may be read alongside the general rules on joint liability (Section 3(5) on common intention and Section 190 on members of an unlawful assembly). Sub-section (3) is a specific provision for murder during dacoity, and it applies by its own terms to every person conjointly committing the dacoity.
Sub-section (4) punishes preparation. Whoever makes any preparation for committing dacoity is liable to rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. On its words, this sub-section punishes preparation as such, without requiring an attempt. It applies to a person who, for example, collects weapons, acquires a vehicle, makes plans or brings men together with the object of committing dacoity. The key element is the purpose: on the words of the sub-section, the preparation must be for committing dacoity.
The sub-section does not say the preparation must be made by five or more persons, or that dacoity must actually be committed later. A single person making preparation is enough. Contrast this with sub-section (5), which requires the person to be one of five or more persons assembled, and sub-section (6), which requires belonging to a gang associated for habitual dacoity.
Under the BNSS First Schedule the offence is cognizable, non-bailable and triable by the Court of Session, and it is not compoundable under BNSS Section 359. The wording and punishment are identical to IPC Section 399. The maximum is the same as that for completed dacoity's lower option (ten years' rigorous imprisonment) but life imprisonment is not available here, and the court has no alternative of fine alone: the imprisonment must be rigorous, with fine additionally leviable.
Sub-section (5) punishes a person who is one of five or more persons assembled for the purpose of committing dacoity. Two conditions must be met: at least five persons must be assembled, and the assembly must be for the purpose of committing dacoity. The person charged must be one of them. No robbery need have taken place and nothing needs to have been taken; the offence is complete on the assembly with that purpose.
The punishment is rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and the offender is also liable to fine. It is lower than that for preparation in sub-section (4) (ten years) and lower than for dacoity itself. Imprisonment must be rigorous. The sub-section differs from the BNS text's predecessor, IPC Section 402, only in that the opening words “at any time after the passing of this Act” are not repeated in the BNS.
Under the BNSS First Schedule the offence is cognizable, non-bailable and triable by the Court of Session, and it is not compoundable under BNSS Section 359. Two points on the text. First, sub-section (4) can be satisfied by a single person making preparation, while this sub-section requires five or more persons assembled. Second, the specific requirement here is the purpose of committing dacoity.
Sub-section (6) punishes membership of a gang. Whoever belongs to a gang of persons associated for the purpose of habitually committing dacoity is liable to imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. The elements are: a gang of persons associated together; the purpose of the association being habitually to commit dacoity; and the accused belonging to that gang. The offence, on the words of sub-section (6), is the belonging itself (“Whoever belongs to a gang of persons associated for the purpose of habitually committing dacoity”); a particular dacoity by the accused is not listed there as a separate ingredient.
The word “habitually” is key. A one-time plan to commit a single dacoity is dealt with under sub-sections (4) or (5); this sub-section speaks of a gang associated for the purpose of habitually committing dacoity. Its punishment is the same as for dacoity itself in sub-section (2).
Under the BNSS First Schedule the offence is cognizable, non-bailable and triable by the Court of Session, and it is not compoundable. In comparison with IPC Section 400, the operative words about the gang and the punishment are the same; only the opening words “at any time after the passing of this Act, shall belong” are replaced by “belongs”. Section 313 (Punishment for belonging to gang of robbers, etc.) is a separate provision: it speaks of a gang associated in habitually committing theft or robbery, and not being a gang of dacoits, with rigorous imprisonment up to seven years and fine.
Five or more. Under sub-section (1) the count includes both those who conjointly commit or attempt the robbery and those who are present and aiding, so long as the total reaches five.
Under the BNSS First Schedule every punished sub-section of Section 310 is cognizable and non-bailable and is triable by the Court of Session. None is compoundable under BNSS Section 359.
Yes. Sub-section (3) says that if any one of five or more persons conjointly committing dacoity commits murder in so committing it, every one of those persons shall be punished with death, imprisonment for life or rigorous imprisonment of not less than ten years, plus fine.
Sub-section (3) now says rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, where IPC Section 396 said which may extend to ten years. Sub-sections (5) and (6) also omit the words “at any time after the passing of this Act” found in IPC Sections 402 and 400. The other sub-sections match their IPC counterparts.
Yes. Sub-section (4) punishes anyone who makes any preparation for committing dacoity with rigorous imprisonment up to ten years and liability to fine.