Indian Penal Code 1860 / Section 2

Section 2 IPC: Punishment of Offences Committed Within India

Section 2 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 laid down the basic rule of territorial criminal liability under the IPC. This article explains the provision as it stood immediately before the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 came into force.

Text of Section 2 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860

Every person shall be liable to punishment under this Code and not otherwise for every act or omission contrary to the provisions thereof, of which he shall be guilty within India.

Meaning and Scope of Section 2 IPC

Section 2 established the general territorial application of the IPC. Where a person committed an act, or failed to perform an act where the law imposed a duty, and that conduct constituted an offence under the IPC within India, criminal liability was governed by the Code.

The expression "every person" is broad. The provision did not, by its wording, confine territorial liability to Indian citizens. Its central connecting factor was that the act or omission constituting the IPC offence was committed within India, subject to applicable constitutional principles, statutory exceptions, immunities and other laws.

Act or omission

An act refers to conduct prohibited by the Code. An omission can attract criminal liability where the Code makes a legally relevant failure to act punishable. Section 2 itself did not create the ingredients or punishment of each offence; those matters were supplied by the relevant substantive provisions of the IPC.

Contrary to the provisions of the Code

Liability under Section 2 depended on conduct being contrary to a provision of the IPC. The section therefore operated as a general territorial rule and had to be read with the provision defining the particular offence, its required ingredients, the prescribed punishment and the General Exceptions contained in the Code.

Within India

The phrase "within India" expressed the territorial basis of Section 2. Separate provisions, particularly Section 3 IPC and Section 4 IPC, dealt with circumstances in which conduct beyond India could nevertheless be dealt with under the IPC.

Essential Features of Section 2 IPC

It stated the general rule for IPC offences committed within India.
Its wording applied to "every person", rather than only to citizens.
Liability could arise from an act or an omission where the relevant IPC provision made that conduct punishable.
Section 2 had to be read with the particular offence, its ingredients and punishment, and the Code's General Exceptions.
Sections 3 and 4 separately addressed specified extra-territorial situations.

Legal Position Before the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

For the period immediately before the new criminal law regime commenced, Section 2 formed part of Chapter I of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and stated the territorial rule quoted above. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 was brought into force from 1 July 2024, subject to the commencement notification concerning section 106(2). Accordingly, this page presents Section 2 IPC as a pre-BNS provision and historical legal reference.

Important: For conduct occurring on or after commencement of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the applicable provision and transitional legal position should be checked under the BNS and the relevant saving provisions. The date of the alleged act or omission can therefore be legally significant.

Historical Amendment Notes

The original words "the said territories" were successively amended by the Adaptation of Laws Orders of 1937, 1948 and 1950 and by Act 3 of 1951, section 3 and the Schedule, resulting in the reference to India.

The words and figures "on or after the said first day of May, 1861" were repealed by Act 12 of 1891, section 2 and the First Schedule.

Related IPC Provisions

For the territorial scheme of the IPC, also read Section 1 IPC - Title and extent of operation of the Code, Section 3 IPC - offences committed beyond India which may be tried within India, and Section 4 IPC - extra-territorial offences.

This article is structured as a legal reference to the Indian Penal Code position immediately before implementation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.