Offences Relating to Religion: Section 298-302 BNS vs Section 295-298 IPC

Damaging a place of worship, insulting religion or religious beliefs, disturbing a religious assembly, trespassing at a burial place, or wounding a person's religious feelings by words or gestures, are each punished in India under Sections 298 to 302 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) — the direct, renumbered successors to Sections 295, 295A, 296, 297 and 298 of the Indian Penal Code, with the same punishments and the same cognizable/bailable classification.

The situation

A person damages or defiles a place of worship, publishes or utters something intended to outrage the religious feelings of a class, disturbs people engaged in worship or a funeral, trespasses at a place of burial, or deliberately says or does something to wound another person's religious feelings. This chapter of five related offences sat together in the IPC as Sections 295, 295A, 296, 297 and 298; the BNS carries the same cluster forward as Sections 298 to 302, in the same order (295→298, 295A→299, 296→300, 297→301, 298→302).

Old law vs new law at a glance

What the law requires now, step by step

Step 1 — Damaging or defiling a place of worship: Section 298 BNS

Section 298 BNS states:

"Whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such destruction, damage or defilement as an insult to their religion, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both."

This is worded identically to Section 295 IPC.

Step 2 — Insulting a class's religion or religious beliefs: Section 299 BNS

Section 299 BNS states:

"Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or through electronic means or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both."

Section 295A IPC, as inserted in 1927 and amended in 1950 and 1961, reads:

"Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both."

The only textual difference is the phrase "through electronic means," which appears in Section 299 BNS but not in Section 295A IPC.

Step 3 — Disturbing a religious assembly: Section 300 BNS

Section 300 BNS states:

"Whoever voluntarily causes disturbance to any assembly lawfully engaged in the performance of religious worship, or religious ceremonies, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both."

This matches Section 296 IPC word for word.

Step 4 — Trespassing on burial places: Section 301 BNS

Section 301 BNS covers trespass "in any place of worship or on any place of sepulchre, or any place set apart for the performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead," or offering "any indignity to any human corpse," or causing "disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies" — with the intention of wounding feelings or insulting religion, or knowledge that it is likely to do so. This is worded identically to Section 297 IPC (save that Section 297 IPC reads "place of sepulture" where Section 301 BNS reads "place of sepulchre"), at the same one-year punishment band.

Step 5 — Wounding religious feelings by words or gestures: Section 302 BNS

Section 302 BNS states:

"Whoever, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person, utters any word or makes any sound in the hearing of that person or makes any gesture in the sight of that person or places any object in the sight of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both."

This matches Section 298 IPC word for word.

Step 6 — Check whether sanction is required before a court can proceed

Section 217(1)(a) BNSS requires previous sanction of the Central Government or the State Government for an offence "punishable under... section 299" of the BNS. It does not list sections 298, 300, 301 or 302. Section 196(1)(a) CrPC required the identical sanction, for an offence under "section 295A" of the IPC, and did not list sections 295, 296, 297 or 298.

What changed — and what did not

• Identical: Four of the five offences (298, 300, 301, 302 BNS) are worded identically to their IPC predecessors (295, 296, 297, 298), with identical punishments and identical cognizable/bailable/court classification.
• Minor edit: Section 299 BNS adds "through electronic means" as an explicit means of insulting religion or religious beliefs — the only wording change across the entire cluster.
• Identical: The sanction requirement — Central/State Government sanction, and only for the "malicious insult to religion" offence (295A/299) — carries forward unchanged, renumbered from CrPC 196(1)(a) to BNSS 217(1)(a).
• Identical: Section order is preserved as a block (295→298, 295A→299, 296→300, 297→301, 298→302); because Section 295A IPC had its own lettered number, the offset is three for 295 and four for 296-298.

Which law applies to your case

If the act — damaging the place of worship, the insulting statement, the disturbance, the trespass, or the words or gesture — occurred before 1 July 2024, the corresponding IPC section (295, 295A, 296, 297 or 298) governs, not the BNS. Section 358(2) BNS states that the repeal of the IPC does not affect "any penalty, or punishment incurred in respect of any offences committed against the Code so repealed," and such a proceeding "may be instituted, continued or enforced... as if that Code had not been repealed." For the full rule, see Which law applies to an offence committed before 1 July 2024.

Practical checklist

For the person affected:

• Note the date of the act precisely — since the punishment and offence definitions are identical either way, the main consequence of the date is which section number gets cited in the FIR and charge.
• If the conduct was communicated electronically (a post, message or video insulting religion), note that Section 299 BNS names electronic means explicitly; for pre-1 July 2024 conduct, the same content would need to fit within Section 295A IPC's residual "or otherwise."
• Preserve evidence of the specific conduct — destruction/damage of property, the content of the insult, or the specific words, sound, gesture or object — since each of the five sections turns on a distinct actus reus.

For the advocate:

• Confirm whether Section 217(1)(a) BNSS (or Section 196(1)(a) CrPC for pre-1 July 2024 conduct) sanction has been obtained before a Section 299 BNS / Section 295A IPC prosecution proceeds — this sanction requirement does not apply to the other four sections in this cluster.
• Identify the correct BNS section by matching the specific conduct (damage to property vs. insulting words vs. disturbance vs. trespass vs. gesture) rather than assuming the whole cluster is interchangeable.
• Cross-check the punishment band and classification table above before citing a section, since four of the five carry identical numbers and only the section number itself changed.

Frequently asked questions

What replaced Section 295A IPC (insulting religion or religious beliefs)?

Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). The offence — deliberately and maliciously outraging the religious feelings of a class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs — and the punishment, imprisonment up to three years, fine, or both, are unchanged. Section 299 BNS adds "through electronic means" to the list of means, which Section 295A IPC's text did not name.

Does damaging a place of worship carry the same punishment under the new law?

Yes. Section 298 BNS punishes destroying, damaging or defiling a place of worship or a sacred object, with intent to insult a class's religion, with imprisonment up to two years, fine, or both — identical to Section 295 IPC's punishment for the same conduct.

Is Section 295A IPC / Section 299 BNS one of the offences that needs government sanction to prosecute?

Yes. Section 217(1)(a) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), requires the previous sanction of the Central or State Government before a court can take cognizance of an offence under section 299 of the BNS. The other four sections in this cluster — 298, 300, 301 and 302 BNS — are not listed in Section 217 BNSS and do not carry this sanction requirement on the text read.

Have the section numbers changed for offences relating to religion?

Yes, as a block in the same order: Section 295 IPC is now Section 298 BNS, Section 295A is now Section 299, Section 296 is now Section 300, Section 297 is now Section 301, and Section 298 is now Section 302.

Is disturbing a religious assembly a bailable offence?

Yes, under both codes. Section 296 IPC and Section 300 BNS are each classified as bailable, cognizable, and triable by any Magistrate, on the CrPC and BNSS First Schedule entries read.

Related on Veritect

• Which law applies to an offence committed before 1 July 2024
• Posts That Promote Enmity Between Groups: Section 196 BNS vs Section 153A IPC
• Spreading False Statements or Rumours: Section 353 BNS vs Section 505 IPC
• IPC to BNS: Complete Section Mapping
• Sedition Abolished — Section 124A IPC Removed, What Replaced It
• Section 153A IPC vs Section 196 BNS — Promoting Enmity Between Different Groups
• Section 295A IPC vs Section 299 BNS — Outraging Religious Feelings
• Section 505 IPC vs Section 353 BNS — Statements Conducing to Public Mischief

Statutory sources

• Indian Penal Code, 1860 — Sections 295, 295A, 296, 297, 298 (repealed w.e.f. 1 July 2024)
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 358
• Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — Section 196 and First Schedule entries for sections 295-298 (repealed w.e.f. 1 July 2024)
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — Section 217, and First Schedule entries for sections 298-302 (Gazette of India, CG-DL-E-25122023-250884)

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.