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The Law Easy

B.N.S. 2023

Section 21, B.N.S.

In force from 1 July 2024

Study material

Explained in

Published material from The Law Easy that cites Section 21.

Notes and articles

B.N.S.

General Defences: Absence of Criminal Intent

Some acts look like offences on their face, yet the law says that nothing is an offence . The reason lies in a set of general exceptions in Chapter III of the B.N.S. (2023): Sections 19 to 24 , and Sections 30, 31 and 32 .

30 min read

Transfer of Property Act, 1882

Position and Legal Status of Minor in India

A minor is an individual who has not yet reached the legal age of adulthood and, therefore, does not possess the full legal rights and capacities of an adult. In India, a person is generally considered a minor until the…

9 min read

Practice MCQs

2 practice questions test this section.

  1. 1 A ten year old child carefully hides stolen property, lies about it and sells it secretly. According to the lecture, what is the position under Section 21 of the B.N.S.?
  2. 2 In Ulla Mahapatra v. The King (Orissa High Court, 1950), a boy above 11 but below 12 years declared that he would cut the victim to bits and then struck him with a knife, causing death. What did the High Court decide?
Practise B.N.S. MCQs

Official text

We show statutory text only after checking it word for word against the official source. Read Section 21 of the B.N.S. 2023 on India Code.

Open India Code