Section 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023
Section 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, establishes the collective criminal liability of all members of an unlawful assembly for offences committed in furtherance of the assembly's common objective.
📜 Text of Section 190
Section 190. Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object(
If an offence is committed by any member of an unlawful assembly in prosecution of the common object of that assembly, or such as the members of that assembly knew to be likely to be committed in prosecution of that object, every person who, at the time of the committing of that offence, is a member of the same assembly, is guilty of that offence)
⚖️ Legal Implications
Collective Liability: All members of an unlawful assembly are equally culpable for offences committed in furtherance of the assembly's common objective, regardless of their individual participation
Knowledge of Likely Offence: Members are liable even if they did not directly commit the offence, provided they knew or should have known that such an offence was likely to occur in the pursuit of the assembly's common objective.
Scope of Application: This section applies to any offence committed by a member during the assembly, as long as it is in furtherance of the common objective or foreseeable in that context.
🔄 Comparison with IPC
Section 190 of the BNS corresponds to Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which holds every member of an unlawful assembly liable for offences committed in prosecution of the common object. The provisions in the BNS are largely consistent with those in the IPC, maintaining the principle of collective liability for unlawful assemblies
📘 Practical Example
If five individuals gather with the common objective of protesting a policy. During the protest, one member commits an act of violence, such as damaging property. Under Section 190, all five members can be held equally liable for the offence, as it was committed in furtherance of their common objective.
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