Section 190 IPC - Threat of Injury to Deter Application for Protection
Section 190 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 punished a threat of injury made to induce a person to refrain or desist from making a legal application for protection against injury to a public servant legally empowered to give that protection or cause it to be given.
Section 190 IPC - Statutory Provision
Threat of injury to induce person to refrain from applying for protection to public servant.
Whoever holds out any threat of injury to any person for the purpose of inducing that person to refrain or desist from making a legal application for protection against any injury to any public servant legally empowered as such to give such protection, or to cause such protection to be given, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
Meaning of Section 190 IPC
The provision protected a person's ability to seek lawful protection from a competent public servant without being deterred by threats of injury. The threat had to be made for the specific purpose of inducing the person not to make, or to stop making, a legal application for protection against injury.
Essential Ingredients of Section 190 IPC
- Threat of injury: a threat of injury must be held out to a person.
- Purpose of the threat: the threat must be intended to induce that person to refrain or desist from making an application for protection.
- Legal application: the application from which the person is sought to be deterred must be a legal application for protection against injury.
- Competent public servant: the application must be to a public servant legally empowered to give the protection or to cause the protection to be given.
Meaning of "Public Servant"
For the IPC regime, "public servant" was defined in Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Section 190 further required that the public servant concerned be legally empowered, in that capacity, to provide the protection sought or cause such protection to be provided.
What Is a Legal Application for Protection?
Section 190 focused on an application that the law permits a person to make for protection against injury. The statutory wording therefore links the threatened person's proposed application with a public servant who has legal authority to provide the requested protection or cause it to be provided.
Purpose of the Threat
The purpose stated in Section 190 is a central element. The threat must be used to induce the person to refrain from making the legal application or to desist from making it. A threat unconnected with such a purpose does not, merely by its existence, satisfy the wording of Section 190.
Punishment Under Section 190 IPC
| Offence | Threat of injury made for the purpose of deterring a person from a legal application for protection to a legally empowered public servant. |
|---|---|
| Maximum imprisonment | Imprisonment of either description for up to one year. |
| Fine | Fine may be imposed; Section 190 did not prescribe a specific maximum amount in its text. |
| Alternative punishment | Imprisonment, fine, or both. |
Section 190 Compared With Section 189 IPC
Section 189 IPC dealt with a threat of injury to a public servant, or to a person in whom the accused believed the public servant to be interested, for the purpose of influencing the public servant's exercise of public functions. Section 190 instead dealt with a threat directed at a person for the purpose of preventing that person from seeking legal protection from a competent public servant.
Related Provisions in Chapter X IPC
Section 186 IPC dealt with voluntary obstruction of a public servant in discharge of public functions, while Section 188 IPC addressed disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant. Sections 189 and 190 addressed particular forms of threats connected with public authority and access to public protection.
Pre-BNS Legal Position
Section 190 formed part of Chapter X of the Indian Penal Code concerning contempts of the lawful authority of public servants. This page describes the IPC position before commencement of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Where conduct or proceedings span the transition to the new criminal laws, the applicable saving and transitional provisions should be examined separately.
Legal information: This article provides general statutory information and does not substitute for legal advice concerning a particular threat, request for protection or proceeding.