Section 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) punishes any act done so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others. It gathers into a single section what the Indian Penal Code spread across separate provisions: the base offence of the old Section 336 IPC, and the aggravated form where the act causes grievous hurt - the old Section 338 IPC, which is now clause (b) of Section 125.
What Section 125 BNS provides
- Base Offence:- Whoever does any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others is punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to 2,500 rupees, or with both. No injury needs to have occurred; the endangerment itself is the offence.
- Clause (a):- Where hurt is caused, the punishment is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to 5,000 rupees, or with both.
- Clause (b):- Where grievous hurt is caused, the punishment is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to 10,000 rupees, or with both. This is the successor of Section 338 IPC.
Rash or negligent - what the section targets
The section is the general public-safety provision for dangerous conduct that stops short of culpable homicide: reckless driving that injures a pedestrian, careless handling of machinery or construction material, negligent storage of dangerous substances, and similar acts. "Rashly" points to conscious risk-taking - doing the act knowing it may cause harm; "negligently" points to the failure to take the care a reasonable person would. Which clause applies depends purely on the result: no injury, hurt, or grievous hurt (the gravest categories of injury - fractures, permanent damage, injuries endangering life - as defined in the Sanhita's section on grievous hurt).
Procedure and bail
The offence is cognizable and bailable, triable by any Magistrate. Because it is bailable, an accused is entitled to bail as of right, and these cases proceed as ordinary Magistrate-court trials. Where the same act causes death, the case moves out of this section altogether into the provision for causing death by negligence.
What changed from the IPC
The substance of the offence is unchanged; the structure and the money amounts are new:
- Consolidation:- The IPC's separate sections (Sections 336, 337, and 338) were merged into one comprehensive section with graded clauses. Section 336 IPC became the base of Section 125, Section 337 IPC informed Clause (a), and Section 338 IPC became Clause (b).
- Higher Fines:-The IPC amounts, fixed in the nineteenth century, were raised substantially: the base offence's fine ceiling moved from 250 rupees to 2,500 rupees, and the grievous-hurt clause's fine ceiling moved from 1,000 rupees to 10,000 rupees.
- Longer Maximum for Grievous Hurt:-The grievous-hurt clause raises the maximum imprisonment from the two years under Section 338 IPC to three years, while the base offence keeps its three-month maximum.
Because the ingredients are unchanged, the case law developed under Sections 336 and 338 IPC on what amounts to a rash or negligent act continues to apply to Section 125 BNS.
Injured by someone's rash or negligent act, or facing a Section 125 BNS case? The clause charged, and the medical evidence grading the injury, decide how serious the case is. Talk to a criminal lawyer in your city or browse advocates in the Free Law directory.