Grievous hurt caused whilst committing lurking house-trespass or house-breaking
Section 459 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 deals with grievous hurt caused whilst committing lurking house-trespass or house-breaking. Grievous hurt caused whilst committing lurking house- trespass or house-breaking.--Whoever, whilst committing lurking house- trespass or house-breaking, causes grievous hurt to any person or attempts to cause death or grievous hurt to any person, shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or im 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 Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and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.
Grievous hurt caused whilst committing lurking house- trespass or house-breaking.--Whoever, whilst committing lurking house- trespass or house-breaking, causes grievous hurt to any person or attempts to cause death or grievous hurt to any person, shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Section 459, The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860).
Now in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
BNS 331 Punishment for house-trespass or house-breaking Close, with changes 79%
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 The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force.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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Haradhan Das vs State of West Bengal
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When five or more accused are charged with an offence under Section 302 read with Section 149 IPC and the Court finds that the identification, role, and object in participation against some of those accused is not proved, still other persons forming the unlawful assembly against whom the prosecution proves its case beyond reasonable doubt can be punished for an offence under Sections 302/149 IPC. The conviction recorded by the Trial Court cannot be vitiated merely because other co-accused are acquitted, provided the eyewitness evidence clearly establishes the specific role and identification of the convicted accused. Additionally, eyewitness testimony from injured witnesses and family members who were present at the scene remains credible and admissible even if minor discrepancies exist, if the core facts regarding time, place, manner of occurrence, and identification are consistent and corroborated by medical evidence.
On this section: Lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night punishable where death caused - general provision relating to nighttime house-breaking
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Ramesh Kumar Dahria vs State of Chhattisgarh
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
An accused who has undergone extended pre-conviction custody exceeding 18 months in a serious criminal case, when the overall factual and circumstantial matrix is considered, may be entitled to bail release on such conditions as the Trial Court deems appropriate, even when charges involve serious offences.
On this section: Sections 459 (house-breaking), 307 (attempt to murder), and 34 (common intention) are the offences for which the petitioner was accused and charged in Crime No. 310/2022. These serious offences formed the basis of the bail assessment.
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Hameed Khan and Anr. vs State
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The essential ingredients for proving the offence of lurking house trespass by night under Section 459 IPC are: (1) Lurking house trespass as defined in Section 443 IPC (entry with precautions to conceal); and (2) Causing grievous hurt. When two persons armed with deadly weapons enter a residential house at night and inflict grievous injuries on the occupants, they commit the offence under Section 459 IPC. Persons can only be convicted under Sections 148 and 149 IPC if they are part of an unlawful assembly of five or more persons. When only two accused persons are involved and they form common intention to commit the alleged offences, they are liable under Sections 459, 323/34, and 325/34 IPC, not under Sections 148 and 149 IPC. Sentences may be reduced based on the age of the accused, their family circumstances, and the duration of legal proceedings, provided the reduction does not undermine the gravity of the offence.
On this section: Lurking house-trespass by night in order to commit offence punishable with life imprisonment or seven years or more - Court held that the appellants committed this offence by entering the residential house at night and causing grievous hurt to the occupants.
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Ramesh Kukar @ Mahesh vs State
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Life imprisonment under Sections 394 and 459 IPC should not be awarded as a matter of course but only when there are strong and compelling circumstances. Courts must record special reasons and consider mitigating factors, particularly the age and reformative potential of young offenders, before imposing life imprisonment instead of the available option of rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years. The sentence of life imprisonment, being a substitute for the colonial-era 'transportation for life', is an agonizing reminder of dark colonial history and should be imposed circumspectly.
On this section: Punishment for house breaking by night with intent to commit offence - applied as an alternative charge for the night-time house breaking
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Kala Singh @ Naresh vs State
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Life imprisonment under Sections 394 and 459 IPC should not be awarded as a matter of course but only in exceptional circumstances where there are strong and compelling reasons, and the court must record special reasons for imposing life imprisonment in preference to imprisonment up to 10 years. The reformative theory of punishment demands that when courts have options of awarding two sets of imprisonment with one harsher than the other, if the court decides to impose the graver sentence, it must record plausible reasons. Additionally, conviction must be based on reliable evidence; evidence of chance witnesses identifying an accused when the primary victim did not name that person is insufficient to establish guilt, particularly when such witnesses admit they did not know the accused before the incident.
On this section: Punishment for house breaking by night in order to commit dacoity - Applied to convict the three male accused; court discussed that life imprisonment should not be awarded as a matter of course but only in exceptional circumstances
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 459
What have the courts held on Section 459 of the Indian Penal Code?
Haradhan Das vs State of West Bengal (13 Dec 2012) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night punishable where death caused - general provision relating to nighttime house-breaking. Another 4 judgments on this section are set out below, 2 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2012 to 2024.
How do I find court cases under Section 459 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 459, section 459 IPC, section 459 of the Indian Penal Code. People searching for it also type ipc 459 punishment in hindi and ipc 459 in bns. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 5 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Haradhan Das vs State of West Bengal (13 Dec 2012).
What should I read with Section 459 of the Indian Penal Code, and has it changed?
3 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNS 331 (Punishment for house-trespass or house-breaking), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 459 of the Indian Penal Code come into force?
Section 459 of the Indian Penal Code, cited as IPC 459, came into force on 01 Jan 1862, having been enacted on 06 Oct 1860. It is no longer in force.
Other sections of this Act
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- 378. Theft980 words
- 108. Abettor745 words
- 403. Dishonest misappropriation of property727 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. Recovered from the consolidated text published by India Code (item 7b7d4fe6-206b-4e33-81f1-b98b018acaf6). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.