Section 137 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) is the kidnapping section: sub-section (1) defines the offence and sub-section (2) prescribes its punishment. Section 137(2) is the successor of the familiar Section 363 IPC (punishment for kidnapping), which the BNS absorbed as a sub-section without a separate heading of its own.
The punishment - Section 137(2) BNS
Whoever kidnaps any person from India or from lawful guardianship shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. That is the old Section 363 IPC, carried forward in substance under a new number.
What counts as kidnapping - Section 137(1) BNS
Sub-section (1) defines the two classic forms of the offence:
- Kidnapping from India - conveying any person beyond the limits of India without the consent of that person, or of someone legally authorised to consent on their behalf.
- Kidnapping from lawful guardianship - taking or enticing a child, or a person of unsound mind, out of the keeping of their lawful guardian without the guardian's consent. "Lawful guardian" includes any person lawfully entrusted with the care or custody of the child, and the provision contains the traditional good-faith exception for a person who believes himself entitled to lawful custody.
The essentials, in plain language
In the guardianship form - by far the more common charge - the offence is complete when the child is taken or enticed out of the guardian's keeping; the child's own willingness is no defence, because the consent that matters is the guardian's. At the same time, the Supreme Court drew a real line in S. Varadarajan v. State of Madras (1965): merely allowing a minor who has left her guardian of her own accord to accompany the accused is not "taking" her. Force is not an ingredient; persuasion or enticement of the child is enough, and the accused's motive, however benign, does not by itself undo the offence. Aggravated forms - kidnapping for ransom, for murder, or for begging - are separate, more severely punished offences elsewhere in the code.
Procedure and bail
Under the First Schedule, the offence under Section 137(2) is cognizable and non-bailable, triable by a Magistrate of the first class. The police can register an FIR and investigate without a Magistrate's order, and bail is a matter of judicial discretion rather than a matter of right.
What changed from the IPC
The substance of kidnapping law is carried forward: the old punishment section, 363 IPC, becomes Section 137(2) BNS with the same seven-years-and-fine punishment, and the definitions sit in Section 137(1). The notable drafting change is in the guardianship clause: the BNS speaks uniformly of a "child", applying one age of eighteen to all children, where the IPC had fixed different ages for boys (under sixteen) and girls (under eighteen). The case law developed under the IPC kidnapping provisions continues to guide the new section.
Dealing with a kidnapping allegation - as a worried parent or guardian, or as the person accused? These cases move quickly and turn on the first statements recorded. Talk to a criminal lawyer in your city or browse advocates in the Free Law directory.