. Prosecution for contempt of lawful authority of public servants, for offences against public justice and for offences relating to documents given in evidence
Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 deals with . Prosecution for contempt of lawful authority of public servants, for offences against public justice and for offences relating to documents given in evidence. No Court shall take cognizance— (a) (i) of any offence punishable under sections 206 to 223 (both inclusive but excluding section 209) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; The Act came into force on 01 Jul 2024.
(1) No Court shall take cognizance—
(a) (i) of any offence punishable under sections 206 to 223 (both inclusive but excluding section 209) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; or
(ii) of any abetment of, or attempt to commit, such offence; or
(iii) of any criminal conspiracy to commit such offence,
except on the complaint in writing of the public servant concerned or of some other public servant to whom he is administratively subordinate or of some other public servant who is authorised by the concerned public servant so to do;
(b) (i) of any offence punishable under any of the following sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, namely, sections 229 to 233 (both inclusive), 236, 237, 242 to 248 (both inclusive) and 267, when such offence is alleged to have been committed in, or in relation to, any proceeding in any Court; or
(ii) of any offence described in sub-section (1) of section 336, or punishable under sub-section (2) of section 340 or section 342 of the said Sanhita, when such offence is alleged to have been committed in respect of a document produced or given in evidence in a proceeding in any Court; or
(iii) of any criminal conspiracy to commit, or attempt to commit, or the abetment of, any offence specified in sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii),
except on the complaint in writing of that Court or by such officer of the Court as that Court may authorise in writing in this behalf, or of some other Court to which that Court is subordinate.
Section 215, The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Act 46 of 2023).
Replaces a provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure
CRPC 195 Prosecution for contempt of lawful authority of public servants, foroffences against public justice and for offences relating to documentsgiven in evidence Close, with changes 69%
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.
This section refers to
- s. 206 High Court to decide, in case of doubt, district where inquiry or trial shall take place
- s. 209 Receipt of evidence relating to offences committed outside India
- s. 223 Examination of complainant
- s. 229 Special summons in cases of petty offence
- s. 233 Procedure to be followed when there is a complaint case and police investigation in respect of same offence
- s. 336 Evidence of public servants, experts, police officers in certain cases
- s. 340 Right of person against whom proceedings are instituted to be defended
Referred to by 8
- s. 217 Prosecution for offences against State and for criminal conspiracy to commit such offence
- s. 345 Trial of person not complying with conditions of pardon
- s. 379 Procedure in cases mentioned in section 215
- s. 380 Appeal
- s. 384 Procedure in certain cases of contempt
- s. 391 Certain Judges and Magistrates not to try certain offences when committed before themselves
- Income-tax Act s. 257 Proceedings before income-tax authorities to be judicial proceedings
- National Sports Governance Act s. 24 Powers of Tribunal
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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Iqbal Singh Marwah v. Meenakshi Marwah
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 195, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Judgment of Main Case order-3.pdf 2005-03-11 DATE VERIFIED. 5-judge Constitution Bench (Lahoti CJI; Mathur J. for the Court). Crl A 402/2005. Skip same-date concurrence/ROP. CrPC 195(1)(b)(ii) bars a private complaint only when the forgery is committed after the document is produced in court (custodia legis). Pre-production forgery is prosecutable on a private complaint. s.340 is the procedure when the bar applies. Map crpc 195 and 340; BNSS 215/379 as successors. Do not pad IPC 193.
On this section: Successor of CrPC 195 (mapping.csv close, score 0.6901; BNSS 215 is the designated counterpart). The 5-judge custodia-legis reading of the forgery bar carries to BNSS 215.
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Sanjay Kumar Sahoo vs Gita Mohapatra
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
A litigant cannot be allowed to abuse the process of court by giving a dispute of essentially civil nature the cloak of a criminal offence.
On this section: Equivalent to 195(1)(a) CrPC; deals with offences against public justice.
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.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… Learned counsel for the petitioners contended that registration of Crime No.560 of 2024 by the police and further proceedings thereon are patently illegal since, Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS for short) prohibits taking cognisance of the offence under Section 232 of BNS, except on a complaint in writing by the court,with respect to the proceedings in relation to which the alleged offence is committed. It is submitted …
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… Accordingly, the petition filed by the plaintiff is partly allowed. The order dated 24.10.2024 passed by the appellate court qua initiation of criminal proceedings against the plaintiff by filing a complaint under Section 379 read with Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita is quashed & set-aside. Pending application(s), if any, also stand(s), disposed of. (NARENDRA SINGH DHADDHA),J Gourav/04 …
Questions about Section 215
What have the courts held on Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita?
Iqbal Singh Marwah v. Meenakshi Marwah (11 Mar 2005) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below, though it was decided under CRPC 195, which this section replaced -- the court never mentioned this Act: Successor of CrPC 195 (mapping.csv close, score 0.6901; BNSS 215 is the designated counterpart). The 5-judge custodia-legis reading of the forgery bar carries to BNSS 215. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below, 1 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2005 to 2025.
How do I find court cases under Section 215 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 215, section 215 BNSS, section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. People searching for it also type bnss 215 1 a in hindi and bnss 215 1 b. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 2 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Iqbal Singh Marwah v. Meenakshi Marwah (11 Mar 2005).
What should I read with Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 206 (High Court to decide, in case of doubt, district where inquiry or trial shall take place), section 209 (Receipt of evidence relating to offences committed outside India), section 223 (Examination of complainant), section 229 (Special summons in cases of petty offence), and on 3 further provisions, so none of them can safely be read on its own. 8 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. It carries forward CrPC 195 (Prosecution for contempt of lawful authority of public servants, foroffences against public justice and for offences relating to documentsgiven in evidence), so the judgments decided under that provision are the case law on this one.
When did Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita come into force?
Section 215 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, cited as BNSS 215, 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.