Voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to extort confession, or to compel restoration of property
What this section does
Punishes voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt for the purpose of extorting a confession, obtaining information leading to detection of an offence or misconduct, or compelling restoration of property or satisfaction of a claim. The illustrations specifically target police and revenue officers who torture persons in custody.
AI-generated plain-language summary. For the binding statutory text, see India Code (official).
Quick reference
- Punishment
- Voluntarily causing hurt for the above purposes (s.120(1)): imprisonment of either description up to 7 years + fine. Voluntarily causing grievous hurt for the above purposes (s.120(2)): imprisonment of either description up to 10 years + fine.
- Triable by
- Magistrate of First Class
- Cognizable
- Yes
- Bailable
- No
- Compoundable
- No
Ingredients (what prosecution must prove)
- The accused voluntarily caused hurt (s.120(1)) or grievous hurt (s.120(2)) to the sufferer or a person interested in the sufferer
- The purpose was to extort a confession, obtain information leading to detection of an offence or misconduct, compel restoration of property or valuable security, satisfy a claim or demand, or obtain information leading to restoration of property or valuable security
Practitioner note
This section is particularly relevant to custodial torture cases. The illustrations expressly cover police officers torturing suspects to extract confessions or locate stolen property, and revenue officers torturing persons to compel payment of arrears.
Derived from IPC s.330.
Read the official text
For the binding statutory text of BNS Section 120, refer to the Gazette of India or the India Code official website.
Why this matters
BNS Section 120 forms part of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita which replaced the Indian Penal Code 1860 on 1 July 2024. Any new filing, FIR, charge sheet, or bail application made on or after that date should cite the new section number. References to the old act in legacy documents remain valid for matters that arose before the changeover.