Section 122 BNS: Voluntarily Causing Hurt or Grievous Hurt on Provocation

Section 122 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) provides a specific punishment where hurt or grievous hurt is voluntarily caused on grave and sudden provocation, subject to strict statutory conditions. The provision does not apply merely because an accused person claims to have been provoked.

Current law: The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is Act No. 45 of 2023. Its provisions, except Section 106(2), came into force on 1 July 2024.

What Section 122 BNS Provides

Section 122(1): Hurt on grave and sudden provocation

Where a person voluntarily causes hurt on grave and sudden provocation, and neither intends nor knows himself to be likely to cause hurt to anyone other than the person who gave the provocation, the punishment may extend to one month of imprisonment of either description, or fine up to Rs. 5,000, or both.

Section 122(2): Grievous hurt on grave and sudden provocation

Where grievous hurt is voluntarily caused on grave and sudden provocation, and the person neither intends nor knows himself to be likely to cause grievous hurt to anyone other than the person who gave the provocation, the punishment may extend to five years of imprisonment of either description, or fine up to Rs. 10,000, or both.

Essential Conditions for Section 122

The statutory benefit of Section 122 depends on the circumstances satisfying its requirements. Important elements include:

there must be grave and sudden provocation;
hurt or grievous hurt must have been voluntarily caused;
the intended or knowingly likely victim must be the person who gave the provocation; and
the case must also satisfy the proviso imported from Exception 1 to Section 101 BNS.

Meaning of Hurt and Grievous Hurt

Hurt - Section 114 BNS

Section 114 BNS defines hurt as causing bodily pain, disease or infirmity to any person.

Voluntarily causing hurt - Section 115 BNS

Under Section 115, hurt is voluntarily caused when a person does an act with the intention of causing hurt, or with knowledge that the act is likely to cause hurt, and thereby causes hurt.

Grievous hurt - Section 116 BNS

Section 116 identifies specified kinds of hurt as grievous. These include emasculation; permanent loss of sight or hearing; loss or permanent impairment of a member or joint; permanent disfigurement of the head or face; fracture or dislocation of a bone or tooth; and hurt that endangers life or causes severe bodily pain, or inability to follow ordinary pursuits, for fifteen days.

How the Section 101 Proviso Limits the Defence of Provocation

Important: The Explanation to Section 122 states that the section is subject to the same proviso as Exception 1 of Section 101 BNS.

Accordingly, the provocation cannot qualify where it is:

sought or voluntarily provoked by the offender as an excuse for killing or doing harm to any person;
given by anything done in obedience to law, or by a public servant in the lawful exercise of the powers of that public servant; or
given by anything done in the lawful exercise of the right of private defence.

The question whether the provocation was sufficiently grave and sudden depends on the facts and circumstances of the particular case.

Punishment under Section 122 BNS

Section 122(1)	Hurt on grave and sudden provocation: imprisonment up to 1 month, or fine up to Rs. 5,000, or both.
Section 122(2)	Grievous hurt on grave and sudden provocation: imprisonment up to 5 years, or fine up to Rs. 10,000, or both.

Section 122 Is Not a General Excuse for Violence

Section 122 does not make every angry or retaliatory act eligible for the reduced punishment stated in the provision. The provocation must be both grave and sudden, the statutory restriction concerning the intended victim must be satisfied, and the circumstances excluded by the Section 101 proviso cannot be relied upon as qualifying provocation.

Related BNS Provisions

Official Legal Sources

The authoritative statutory text and commencement notification are available from the following Government sources.

India Code - Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 Ministry of Home Affairs - New Criminal Laws MHA - BNS Commencement Notification

This page provides general legal information. The applicability of Section 122 depends on the facts, evidence, procedural law and judicial interpretation relevant to the particular case.