Section 352 punishes a person who intentionally insults another in any manner, and so gives provocation, intending or knowing it to be likely that the provocation will cause the person to break the public peace or to commit any other offence. The punishment is imprisonment of up to two years, or fine, or both. The section corresponds to IPC Section 504, with the words “in any manner” added.
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 352 descends from one section of the old Indian Penal Code, 1860. The concordance table shows no “Change” marker against it, but the word-by-word comparison of the two texts found one addition, so the row is shown as Substantively changed:
| BNS section | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 352 | S.504 “Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace” | Substantively changed |
A word-by-word comparison of BNS Section 352 with IPC Section 504 shows one difference in the operative words. IPC Section 504 reads “Whoever intentionally insults, and thereby gives provocation to any person…”; BNS Section 352 reads “Whoever intentionally insults in any manner, and thereby gives provocation to any person…”. The words “in any manner” are added. Everything else is the same: the requirement that the insult be intentional, the provocation, the intention or knowledge that the provocation is likely to cause the person to break the public peace or to commit any other offence, and the punishment (imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or fine, or both). The only other difference is in the marginal heading, where the IPC reads “breach of the peace” and the BNS reads “breach of peace”. The label kept is Substantively changed because words have been added to the operative text.
Whoever intentionally insults in any manner, and thereby gives provocation to any person, intending or knowing it to be likely that such provocation will cause him to break the public peace, or to commit any other offence, 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 352 has three ingredients that must all be present. First, the accused intentionally insults another “in any manner”. Second, he thereby gives provocation to any person. Third, he does so “intending or knowing it to be likely that such provocation will cause him to break the public peace, or to commit any other offence”. The word “thereby” ties the second ingredient to the first: the provocation must result from the insult. The word “insults” is not defined in Section 2, and the section does not list the forms an insult can take; the words “in any manner” are wide on their face and do not confine the insult to spoken words.
The mental element has two layers. The insult itself must be intentional. And the accused must intend, or know it to be likely, that the provocation it gives will cause the person to break the public peace or to commit any other offence. This is a test of the accused’s intention or knowledge at the time; the section does not say that the person provoked must in fact have broken the peace or committed any offence. Section 2 does not define “provocation” or “public peace”. The section’s marginal heading refers only to a breach of peace, but the body of the section covers two consequences, a breach of the public peace and the commission of any other offence.
Section 352 should be kept apart from the neighbouring provisions in the same Chapter. Criminal intimidation under Section 351 is about a threat of injury made with a particular intent; Section 352 concerns an insult that provokes. Defamation under Section 356 is about making or publishing an imputation concerning a person, intending to harm (or knowing or having reason to believe that it will harm) that person’s reputation, which is a different matter from an insult that gives provocation. Section 79 is about words, sounds, gestures or objects intended to insult the modesty of a woman (or an intrusion upon her privacy), and is specific to that kind of insult. Section 352 is not limited to any particular kind of person or insult, but it has its own requirement: the accused must intend, or know it to be likely, that the provocation will lead to a breach of the public peace or another offence.
The punishment is imprisonment of either description for up to two years, or fine, or both; the section fixes no amount for the fine. In the BNSS First Schedule the offence (described there as “Insult intended to provoke breach of the peace”) is non-cognizable and bailable, triable by any Magistrate. Section 352 is listed in the first table of BNSS Section 359(1), so it may be compounded, without the court’s permission, by the person insulted.
Imprisonment of either description (simple or rigorous) for a term which may extend to two years, or fine, or both. The section does not fix the amount of the fine.
Under the First Schedule to the BNSS it is non-cognizable and bailable, and triable by any Magistrate. It is compoundable, without the court’s permission, by the person insulted (BNSS Section 359(1)).
The section requires that the accused was intending or knowing it to be likely that the provocation will cause the person to break the public peace or to commit any other offence. It does not say that the person must in fact do so.
The section says the accused “intentionally insults in any manner”. The words are not limited to any form of insult.
No. The insult must be intentional, it must give provocation to a person, and the accused must intend or know it to be likely that the provocation will cause a breach of the public peace or the commission of another offence.
The punishment and the other ingredients are the same. The BNS text adds the words “in any manner” after “intentionally insults”. The marginal heading differs only in reading “breach of peace” where the IPC reads “breach of the peace”.