Settling a Criminal Case: Which Offences Can Be Compounded — Section 320 CrPC vs Section 359 BNSS

Under Indian law, certain criminal offences can be settled between the parties — "compounded" — either directly by the person specified in the statute, or with the Court's permission for a second, more serious category of offences. Section 359 BNSS reproduces Section 320 CrPC's two-tier structure on renumbered BNS sections, but the tables are not identical: Section 320 CrPC's adultery row has no BNS counterpart at all, because BNS contains no adultery offence.

The situation

Two parties to a criminal case — for example, the complainant and the accused in a case of hurt, cheating, criminal trespass or defamation — reach an understanding and want the case to end without a full trial. Whether that is possible, who must consent, and whether the Court's permission is needed depends entirely on which specific offence is charged and which Table of the compounding section it falls in.

Old law vs new law at a glance

What the law requires now, step by step

Step 1 — Identify which Table the offence falls in

Section 359(1) BNSS opens: "The offences punishable under the sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 specified in the first two columns of the Table next following may be compounded by the persons mentioned in the third column of that Table" — no Court permission required. Section 359(2) BNSS covers a second Table of offences that "may, with the permission of the Court before which any prosecution for such offence is pending, be compounded." This mirrors Section 320(1)-(2) CrPC precisely in structure.

Step 2 — Table 1: offences compoundable without the Court's permission

A representative comparison of Section 320(1) CrPC and Section 359(1) BNSS, confirmed against both the library text and the official Gazette table:

Step 3 — Table 2: offences compoundable only with the Court's permission

A representative comparison of Section 320(2) CrPC and Section 359(2) BNSS:

Step 4 — Compounding abetment, attempt, or joint-liability offences

Section 359(3) BNSS: "When an offence is compoundable under this section, the abetment of such offence or an attempt to commit such offence (when such attempt is itself an offence) or where the accused is liable under sub-section (5) of section 3 or section 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, may be compounded in like manner." Section 320(3) CrPC used the same structure, referencing IPC ss. 34 and 149 (common intention and unlawful assembly) instead.

Step 5 — Composition on behalf of a child, a person of unsound mind, or a deceased person

Section 359(4)(a) BNSS: "When the person who would otherwise be competent to compound an offence under this section is a child or of unsound mind, any person competent to contract on his behalf may, with the permission of the Court, compound such offence." Section 320(4)(a) CrPC used the phrase "under the age of eighteen years or is an idiot or a lunatic." The wording has been modernised — BNS s. 2(3) defines "child" as "any person below the age of eighteen years," so the age threshold has not changed; the mental-capacity category is now described as "of unsound mind" in place of "an idiot or a lunatic".

Step 6 — Procedural conditions unchanged

Sections 359(5)-(9) BNSS reproduce Sections 320(5)-(9) CrPC without substantive change: leave of the Court to which the accused has been committed, or before which the appeal is to be heard, is required once the accused has been committed for trial or has been convicted and an appeal is pending; the revisional court (now cross-referenced to Section 442 BNSS instead of Section 401 CrPC) may permit compounding; no offence can be compounded if the accused faces enhanced punishment for a prior conviction; composition has the effect of an acquittal; and no offence can be compounded except as the section itself provides.

What changed — and what did not

• Identical in substance: The two-tier Table structure, the abetment/attempt extension, the leave-of-court requirement after committal or during appeal, the enhanced-punishment bar, and the acquittal effect of composition all carry over unchanged from Section 320 CrPC to Section 359 BNSS.
• Modified: Terminology for who can compound on a minor's or mentally incapacitated person's behalf changed from "under the age of eighteen years or is an idiot or a lunatic" to "a child or of unsound mind" — a wording update, not a substantive threshold change, since BNS's own definition of "child" keeps the age at eighteen.
• Abolished (by omission): The compounding row for adultery (IPC s. 497) has no BNS counterpart, because BNS contains no offence of adultery at all — confirmed by a full-text search of the BNS finding no use of the term.
• Merged: The separate CrPC rows for mischief by killing/maiming an animal (IPC s. 428) and mischief by killing/maiming cattle (IPC s. 429) collapse into the single BNS s. 325 provision and its single compounding row. BNS s. 325 applies to killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless "any animal", with no value threshold, punishable up to five years; IPC s. 428 (animals of the value of ten rupees or upwards, up to two years) and IPC s. 429 (elephant, camel, horse, mule, buffalo, bull, cow or ox of any value, or any other animal of the value of fifty rupees or upwards, up to five years) had been separated by value. The definition of "animal" did not change — IPC s. 47 and BNS s. 2(2) both define it as any living creature other than a human being.
• Renumbered only: The overwhelming majority of Table 1 and Table 2 rows carry the same offence description and the same class of person entitled to compound, with only the section numbers changed from IPC to BNS.
• Out of scope for this guide: Section 528 BNSS separately saves the High Court's inherent powers — a different statutory mechanism from compounding under Section 359 BNSS; see the dedicated article on Section 528 BNSS.

Which law applies to your case

This guide does not restate the general transition rule. See Which Law Applies to an Offence Before 1 July 2024, read together with Section 531 BNSS, for the full position on proceedings that straddle the commencement date.

Practical checklist

For parties seeking to settle:

• Identify the exact BNS section under which the accused is charged, then check whether that section appears in the Table 1 or Table 2 list under Section 359 BNSS — not every offence is compoundable.
• If the offence falls in Table 2, obtain the Court's permission before treating the matter as settled; compounding without that permission where it is required is not effective.
• Confirm the correct person entitled to compound — the Table specifies this precisely (e.g. "the person to whom the hurt is caused," "the owner of the property"), and it is not always the complainant in a lay sense.
• Check whether the accused has a relevant prior conviction, since Section 359(7) BNSS bars compounding where that triggers enhanced or different punishment.

For the advocate:

• Cross-check the BNS section number against the current Section 359 BNSS Tables — do not assume an old compounding classification carries over, since adultery has been dropped entirely and the animal/cattle mischief rows have merged.
• Where the client's case involves a minor or a person of unsound mind, apply for the Court's permission under Section 359(4)(a) before treating any compromise as binding.
• If the accused has already been committed for trial or an appeal is pending, obtain leave under Section 359(5) before finalising a composition.
• Do not conflate compounding under Section 359 BNSS with the High Court's inherent powers saved by Section 528 BNSS — they are separate statutory provisions.

Frequently asked questions

Can I settle a criminal case out of court under the new law?

For the specific list of offences in the Section 359 BNSS Tables, yes — this is what "compounding" means: with the consent of the specified person (usually the victim), and for the Table 2 offences, with the Court's permission, the offence is treated as settled and the accused is acquitted under Section 359(8) BNSS. Section 359 BNSS carries forward the same two-tier structure as Section 320 CrPC.

What offences can be compounded without the court's permission under Section 359 BNSS?

Section 359(1) BNSS lists offences — such as voluntarily causing hurt (s. 115(2)), theft (s. 303(2)), cheating (s. 318(2)), criminal trespass (s. 329(3)), and criminal intimidation (s. 351(2), (3)) — that the specified person (typically the victim or the person to whom loss was caused) may compound directly, without needing the Court's leave, mirroring the structure of the Section 320(1) CrPC Table on the equivalent IPC sections.

Is adultery still a compoundable offence under Section 359 BNSS?

No. Section 320(1) CrPC listed adultery (IPC s. 497) as compoundable by the husband of the woman. The BNS contains no adultery offence at all — a full-text search of the BNS finds no provision using that term — so there is no corresponding row in either Table of Section 359 BNSS.

What happens if the accused has a previous conviction?

Section 359(7) BNSS states no offence shall be compounded if the accused is, by reason of a previous conviction, liable either to enhanced punishment or to a punishment of a different kind for that offence — reproducing Section 320(7) CrPC without change.

Does compounding an offence result in acquittal?

Yes. Section 359(8) BNSS states composition of an offence under the section has the effect of an acquittal of the accused with whom the offence has been compounded — the same effect as Section 320(8) CrPC.

Is compounding the same as the High Court's inherent powers under Section 528 BNSS?

They are different statutory routes. Compounding under Section 359 BNSS is the Table-based settlement mechanism described in this guide. Section 528 BNSS, which reproduces Section 482 CrPC, separately saves the inherent powers of the High Court "to make such orders as may be necessary to give effect to any order under this Sanhita, or to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice" — this guide does not address those powers beyond noting that the saving provision exists; see the dedicated article on Section 528 BNSS.

Related on Veritect

• Section 482 CrPC vs Section 528 BNSS — Inherent Powers of High Court
• Which Law Applies to an Offence Before 1 July 2024
• In Jail Awaiting Trial? Maximum Detention — Section 436A CrPC vs Section 479 BNSS
• Police Want to Attach Property as Proceeds of Crime — Section 107 BNSS
• IPC to BNS: Complete Section Mapping
• Section 34 IPC vs Section 3(5) BNS — Common Intention
• Section 320 CrPC vs Section 359 BNSS — Compounding of Offences
• Section 397 CrPC vs Section 438 BNSS — Criminal Revision (CrPC 397-401)
• Sections 6–52A IPC vs Sections 2–3 BNS — General Explanations and Definitions
• Sections 421–424 IPC vs Sections 320–323 BNS — Fraudulent Deeds and Dispositions of Property

Statutory sources

• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 359(1)-(9), Section 528 (read from BNSS_2023.md); Table cross-checked against the BNSS Gazette text (CG-DL-E-25122023-250884)
• Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — Section 320(1)-(9) (read from CrPC_1973.md)
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Section 2(2) ("animal"), Section 2(3) ("child"), Section 325 (read from BNS_2023.md)

This guide explains the statutory text of the BNS, BNSS and BSA as enacted. It is not legal advice; for a specific case, consult an advocate.