Protection against prosecution for acts done under sections 148, 149 and 150
Section 151 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 deals with protection against prosecution for acts done under sections 148, 149 and 150. No prosecution against any person for any act purporting to be done under section 148, section 149 or section 150 shall be instituted in any Criminal Court except— (a) with the sanction of the Central Government where such person is an officer or member of the armed forces; The Act came into force on 01 Jul 2024.
(1) No prosecution against any person for any act purporting to be done under section 148, section 149 or section 150 shall be instituted in any Criminal Court except—
(a) with the sanction of the Central Government where such person is an officer or member of the armed forces;
(b) with the sanction of the State Government in any other case.
(2) (a) No Executive Magistrate or police officer acting under any of the said sections in good faith;
(b) no person doing any act in good faith in compliance with a requisition under section 148 or section 149;
(c) no officer of the armed forces acting under section 150 in good faith;
(d) no member of the armed forces doing any act in obedience to any order which he was bound to obey, shall be deemed to have thereby committed an offence.
(3) In this section and in the preceding sections of this Chapter,—
(a) the expression “armed forces” means the army, naval and air forces, operating as land forces and includes any other armed forces of the Union so operating;
(b) “officer”, in relation to the armed forces, means a person commissioned, gazetted or in pay as an officer of the armed forces and includes a junior commissioned officer, a warrant officer, a petty officer, a non-commissioned officer and a non-gazetted officer;
(c) “member”, in relation to the armed forces, means a person in the armed forces other than an officer.
Section 151, The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Act 46 of 2023).
Replaces a provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure
CRPC 132 Protection against prosecution for acts done under preceding sections Text carried over almost unchanged 95%
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Sri Ravi Kumar vs Guruprasad
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 132, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When alleged acts of police officers are reasonably connected with the discharge of their official duties, including investigation of criminal cases, the police officers are entitled to protection under Section 197 CrPC and Section 132 CrPC. No criminal proceedings can be launched against such public servants without prior sanction from the government, even if the acts constitute excess in the discharge of official duties, provided there is a reasonable nexus between the act and the performance of official duty. The cognizance order taken without such prior sanction is legally untenable and liable to be quashed.
On this section: Section 132 provides protection to police officers for acts committed during investigation of criminal cases. The court noted that petitioners were entitled to protection under this section as they were involved in investigation of Cr.No.206/2011.
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 151
What have the courts held on Section 151 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita?
Sri Ravi Kumar vs Guruprasad (15 Apr 2019) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below, though it was decided under CRPC 132, which this section replaced -- the court never mentioned this Act: Section 132 provides protection to police officers for acts committed during investigation of criminal cases. The court noted that petitioners were entitled to protection under this section as they were involved in investigation of Cr.No.206/2011.
How do I find court cases under Section 151 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: BNSS 151, section 151 BNSS, section 151 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. People searching for it also type bnss 151 kya h and bnss 151 2 in hindi. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Sri Ravi Kumar vs Guruprasad (15 Apr 2019).
What should I read with Section 151 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 148 (Dispersal of assembly by use of civil force), section 149 (Use of armed forces to disperse assembly), section 150 (Power of certain armed force officers to disperse assembly), so none of them can safely be read on its own. It carries forward CrPC 132 (Protection against prosecution for acts done under preceding sections), so the judgments decided under that provision are the case law on this one.
When did Section 151 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita come into force?
Section 151 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, cited as BNSS 151, came into force on 01 Jul 2024, having been enacted on 25 Dec 2023. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 359. Compounding of offences1355 words
- 187. Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty-four hours1122 words
- 2. Definitions956 words
- 243. Trial for more than one offence930 words
- 35. When police may arrest without warrant881 words
- 480. When bail may be taken in case of non-bailable offence823 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 14 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.