Section 222 IPC: Intentional Omission to Apprehend Person Under Sentence or Lawfully Committed
Section 222 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 dealt with a public servant who was legally bound to apprehend or keep in confinement a person under sentence of a Court of Justice, or a person lawfully committed to custody, but intentionally omitted to apprehend that person, intentionally allowed an escape, or intentionally aided an escape or attempted escape.
Section 222 IPC - statutory provision
Whoever, being a public servant, legally bound as such public servant to apprehend or to keep in confinement any person under sentence of a Court of Justice for any offence or lawfully committed to custody, intentionally omits to apprehend such person, or intentionally suffers such person to escape or intentionally aids such person in escaping or attempting to escape from such confinement, shall be punished as follows, that is to say:
with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to fourteen years, with or without fine, if the person in confinement, or who ought to have been apprehended, is under sentence of death; or
with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, with or without fine, if the person in confinement or who ought to have been apprehended is subject, by a sentence of a Court of Justice, or by virtue of a commutation of such sentence, to imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of ten years or upwards; or
with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both, if the person in confinement or who ought to have been apprehended is subject by a sentence of a Court of Justice to imprisonment for a term not extending to ten years or if the person was lawfully committed to custody.
Meaning and scope of Section 222 IPC
The section applied to a public servant who was legally bound, in that capacity, to apprehend or keep in confinement a person already under sentence of a Court of Justice or otherwise lawfully committed to custody. It addressed intentional non-apprehension, intentional sufferance of escape and intentional assistance in an escape or attempted escape.
The provision therefore focused on deliberate conduct by the public servant. Its punishment varied according to the sentence or custody status of the person whom the public servant was bound to apprehend or confine.
Essential ingredients of Section 222 IPC
- The accused must be a public servant.
- The public servant must be legally bound to apprehend or keep the person in confinement.
- The person must be under sentence of a Court of Justice for an offence or lawfully committed to custody.
- The public servant must intentionally omit to apprehend, intentionally suffer the person to escape, or intentionally aid the person in escaping or attempting to escape.
- The punishment and procedural classification depend on the sentence or custody category described in the provision.
Punishment and CrPC classification under Section 222 IPC
| Person concerned | Punishment | Cognizability | Bail | Trial court |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under sentence of death | Imprisonment for life, or imprisonment up to 14 years, with or without fine | Cognizable | Non-bailable | Court of Session |
| Under sentence of imprisonment for life or imprisonment for 10 years or upwards | Imprisonment up to 7 years, with or without fine | Cognizable | Non-bailable | Magistrate of the first class |
| Under sentence of imprisonment for less than 10 years, or lawfully committed to custody | Imprisonment up to 3 years, or fine, or both | Cognizable | Bailable | Magistrate of the first class |
What conduct was covered?
Section 222 expressly covered three forms of intentional conduct: failure to apprehend a person whom the public servant was legally bound to apprehend, intentionally suffering such a person to escape, and intentionally aiding that person in escaping or attempting to escape from confinement.
Person under sentence or lawfully committed to custody
The provision was directed principally to persons already under a sentence of a Court of Justice. It also expressly extended to a person lawfully committed to custody. That expression was inserted into Section 222 by Act 27 of 1870.
Why the sentence matters
Section 222 created different consequences according to the legal status of the person whose apprehension or confinement was intentionally frustrated. The most serious category concerned a person under sentence of death. A separate category applied to imprisonment for life or imprisonment for ten years or upwards, while the third covered a sentence of less than ten years and persons lawfully committed to custody.
Section 221 and Section 222 IPC
Section 221 IPC dealt with intentional omission or assistance by a public servant in relation to a person charged with, or liable to be apprehended for, an offence. Section 222 dealt with a person under sentence of a Court of Justice or lawfully committed to custody. The provisions therefore operated at different legal stages and contained different punishment structures.
Intentional conduct and negligent escape
Section 222 required intentional conduct. By contrast, Section 223 IPC dealt with escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by a public servant legally bound to keep the person in confinement.
Historical amendments reflected in Section 222
- The words concerning a person "lawfully committed to custody" were inserted by Act 27 of 1870.
- "Imprisonment for life" replaced the former expression "transportation for life" through Act 26 of 1955.
- Earlier references to penal servitude were omitted by Act 17 of 1949.
- Other obsolete wording connected with transportation and penal servitude was removed through the amendments recorded in the statutory footnotes.
Related IPC provisions
Related provisions include Section 220 IPC, Section 221 IPC, Section 223 IPC, Section 224 IPC, Section 225 IPC and Section 225A IPC.
This page describes the Indian Penal Code position before implementation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The law applicable to a particular matter depends on the relevant facts, sentence or custody status, and date of the conduct.