Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it
Section 176 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 deals with omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it. Whoever, being legally bound to give any notice or to furnish information on any subject to any public servant, as such, intentionally omits to give such notice or to furnish such information in the manner and at the time required by law, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which m The Act came into force on 01 Jan 1862. Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.
Whoever, being legally bound to give any notice or to furnish information on any subject to any public servant, as such, intentionally omits to give such notice or to furnish such information in the manner and at the time required by law, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both;
or, if the notice or information required to be given respects the commission of an offence, or is required for the purpose of preventing the commission of an offence, or in order to the apprehension of an offender, with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both;
[or, if the notice or information required to be given is required by an order passed under sub-section (1) of section 565 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.]
Section 176, The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860).
Now in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
BNS 211 Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it Text carried over almost unchanged 98%
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 The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force.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.
Referred to by 60
- Andhra Pradesh Objectionable Performances Prohibition Act s. 9 Power to call for information
- Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act s. 242 Procedure and powers of the Commission
- Assam Lifts and Escalators Act s. 13
- Assam Shops and Establishment Act s. 24
- Bihar Fire Service Act s. 48 Failure to give information
- Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act s. 43 Powers of Inspectors
- Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act s. 43 Powers of Inspectors
- Building and other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act s. 43 Powers of Inspectors
- Building and other Construction Workers‘ (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act s. 43 Powers of Inspectors
- Building and other Construction Workers‘ (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act s. 43 Powers of Inspectors
- Building And Other Construction Workers (Regulation Of Employment And Conditions Of Service) Act (CENTRAL ACT) s. 43 Powers of Inspectors
- Buildings and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act s. 43
and 48 more
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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Ramaiah @ Rama vs State of Karnataka
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When essential ingredients of a dowry-related criminal offence, particularly the demand for dowry and subsequent cruelty or harassment for non-payment thereof, are not established beyond reasonable doubt through credible evidence, conviction under Sections 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, Section 498-A, and Section 304-B IPC cannot be sustained. The presumption under Section 113-B of the Indian Evidence Act can only be invoked after the prerequisite of proved dowry-related cruelty or harassment is satisfied. When an appellate court reviews an acquittal and finds that two views are reasonably possible on the evidence, with one view being favourable to the accused as taken by the trial court, the appellate court should not disturb such acquittal unless the trial court's reasoning is clearly unreasonable or vitiated by manifest illegality. Courts must scrutinize witness credibility carefully when inconsistencies exist between original complaint and later testimony, and when significant delays in lodging FIR lack satisfactory explanation.
On this section: Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person bound to give it; Court found insufficient evidence of deliberate omission given family's participation in events
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Md.shahabuddin vs The State of Bihar& ORS.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Denial of production of an accused in a case for the limited purpose of remand, subject to genuine contingencies under Section 269 Cr.P.C., amounts to denial of both the right to seek bail and the benefits of rights enshrined in the Criminal Procedure Code. An accused has an equal right to be tried speedily in all cases in which he is an accused. Section 269 Cr.P.C. does not provide unfettered power to abstain from executing production warrants; it applies only to genuine contingencies such as sickness, infirmity, or genuine time constraints. Where intervening days exist between court dates, jail authorities must facilitate production for limited remand purposes. The court must balance the right to speedy trial in one case with the right to be produced in another case, and indefinite denial of production warrants for extended periods is not justified under Section 269 Cr.P.C.
On this section: Sections under which the Kajimohamadpur PS case no. 182 of 2005 was registered; cited to establish the nature of charges against the petitioner
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Mahboob Khan vs State of Rajasthan through Pp
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
In criminal bail applications under Section 439 CrPC, even in cases involving serious charges such as sexual offences against minors, bail may be granted to an accused who has undergone substantial custody, subject to conditions imposed by the trial court, without prejudging the merits of the case. The court's role is to balance the right to liberty with the need to ensure appearance and prevent abuse of process.
On this section: Charge against petitioner for act done by public servant in excess of duty or in violation of law
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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… Thirdly, after receiving material for publication and the amount being legally bound to submit information before Court, but you intentionally omitted to give such information and thereby you have committed an offence punishable under Section 176 of Indian Penal Code by furnishing false information, and within the cognizance of this Court. Fourthly, on 30.10.2017, it has been stated that neither payment of publication of matter received nor matter for publication received whereas as per the Court records matter was already sent to newspaper and vide …
Questions about Section 176
What have the courts held on Section 176 of the Indian Penal Code?
Ramaiah @ Rama vs State of Karnataka (07 Aug 2014) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person bound to give it; Court found insufficient evidence of deliberate omission given family's participation in events. Another 2 judgments on this section are set out below, 1 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2008 to 2017.
How do I find court cases under Section 176 of the Indian Penal Code?
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: IPC 176, section 176 IPC, section 176 of the Indian Penal Code. People searching for it also type ipc 176 in bns. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 3 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Ramaiah @ Rama vs State of Karnataka (07 Aug 2014).
What should I read with Section 176 of the Indian Penal Code, and has it changed?
60 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNS 211 (Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 176 of the Indian Penal Code come into force?
Section 176 of the Indian Penal Code, cited as IPC 176, came into force on 01 Jan 1862, having been enacted on 06 Oct 1860. It is no longer in force.
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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. Recovered from the consolidated text published by India Code (item 7b7d4fe6-206b-4e33-81f1-b98b018acaf6). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.