Escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant
Section 223 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 deals with escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant. Whoever, being a public servant legally bound as such public servant to keep in confinement any person charged with or convicted of any offence [or lawfully committed to custody], negligently suffers such person to escape from confinement, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which 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 Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and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 a public servant legally bound as such public servant to keep in confinement any person charged with or convicted of any offence [or lawfully committed to custody], negligently suffers such person to escape from confinement, shall be
punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 223, The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860).
Now in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
BNS 261 Escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant Text carried over almost unchanged 100%
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 The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force.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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Easi Mohd. Alam @ Alam vs State of Haryana
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When a government employee who has been dismissed is fully exonerated through judicial acquittal and reinstated, the principle of 'No Work-No Pay' does not apply to deny him back wages and service benefits for the period of dismissal. An employee who is willing to work but prevented from working by the employer due to wrongful dismissal is entitled to full pay, allowances, and all consequential benefits as if he had continuously worked, and the period of dismissal must be treated as a duty period for all purposes including grant of increments and fixation of pay. This principle applies even when the dismissal was based on criminal conviction later set aside, and the employee's pursuit of legal remedies does not constitute fault attributable to him.
On this section: Sections under which petitioner was charged; Section 223 relates to causing disappearance of evidence and Section 224 relates to resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension
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Ram Pratap Singh vs State of U.p.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When a government employee has been acquitted in a criminal case and has submitted representations for consideration of post-retirement benefits that remain undecided for an unreasonable period, the appropriate remedy is to direct the employee to file a fresh representation and mandate the administrative authority to consider and decide the same by a reasoned and speaking order within a reasonable time frame, rather than adjudicating the merits of the claim in the writ petition itself.
On this section: These sections relate to the criminal charges against the petitioner in Crime No. 1018 of 2003, for which he was acquitted on February 20, 2019
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 223
What have the courts held on Section 223 of the Indian Penal Code?
Easi Mohd. Alam @ Alam vs State of Haryana (19 Sep 2022) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Sections under which petitioner was charged; Section 223 relates to causing disappearance of evidence and Section 224 relates to resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below.
How do I find court cases under Section 223 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 223, section 223 IPC, section 223 of the Indian Penal Code. 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 Easi Mohd. Alam @ Alam vs State of Haryana (19 Sep 2022).
What should I read with Section 223 of the Indian Penal Code, and has it changed?
1 other provision in this corpus refers back to it. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNS 261 (Escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 223 of the Indian Penal Code come into force?
Section 223 of the Indian Penal Code, cited as IPC 223, 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.