Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs
Full Text
Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or through electronic means or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
Plain English Summary
Punishes deliberate and malicious acts (including speech, writing, gestures, and electronic posts) that insult or attempt to insult the religion or religious beliefs of any class of citizens of India with the intention to outrage their religious feelings.
Key Legal Elements
- Specific deliberate and malicious intention to outrage religious feelings of a class of Indian citizens
- Insulting or attempting to insult the religion or religious beliefs of that class
- The act is committed via spoken/written words, signs, visible representations, electronic means, or otherwise
Punishment
Imprisonment up to 3 years, or fine, or both
Practical Note
This section is the primary tool to combat hate speech, offensive religious publications, and provocative online/social media posts. Since 'electronic means' is explicitly added in BNS, it has become highly applicable to cyber-crime cases involving communal post sharing.
हिंदी पाठ
जो कोई भारत के नागरिकों के किसी वर्ग की धार्मिक भावनाओं को आहत करने के विमर्शित और विद्वेषपूर्ण आशय से, मौखिक या लिखित शब्दों द्वारा, या संकेतों द्वारा, या दृश्य रूपणों द्वारा, या इलेक्ट्रॉनिक माध्यमों द्वारा या अन्यथा, उस वर्ग के धर्म या धार्मिक विश्वासों का अपमान करेगा या अपमान करने का प्रयत्न करेगा, वह दोनों में से किसी भांति के कारावास से, जिसकी अवधि तीन वर्ष तक की हो सकेगी, या जुर्माने से, या दोनों से, दण्डित किया जाएगा।