Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 prescribed punishment for murder and has been replaced by Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, effective 1 July 2024. The base punishment for murder remains identical — death or life imprisonment plus fine. However, BNS 103(2) introduces a new category for murder by a group (mob lynching), where a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other similar ground.
What changed
| Old law | New law | |
|---|---|---|
| Act | Indian Penal Code, 1860 | Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 |
| Section | 302 | 103 |
| Title | Punishment for murder | Punishment for murder |
| Change type | Expanded — new sub-section (2) added for mob lynching |
Full statutory text
Section 302 IPC (repealed w.e.f. 1 July 2024)
Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.
Section 103 BNS
(1) Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.
(2) When a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other similar ground each member of such group shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.
Text in bold represents the new addition in the BNS with no equivalent in the IPC.
Key differences
Sub-section (1) is identical: The punishment for murder under BNS 103(1) reproduces the text of Section 302 IPC word-for-word (the only difference is the IPC's comma after "death"). Death or life imprisonment, plus fine, remains the prescribed sentence.
New provision for mob lynching: BNS 103(2) is an entirely new provision. It criminalises murder committed by a group of five or more persons acting in concert on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief, or any other similar ground.
Collective liability: Sub-section (2) provides that "each member of such group shall be punished". On a reading of those words, liability does not depend on which member struck the fatal blow. This codifies collective criminal liability for mob violence.
Same punishment range: Sub-section (1) permits the court to choose between death and life imprisonment, and sub-section (2) prescribes the same — death or life imprisonment, plus fine. The specific targeting of identity-based group violence may be argued to signal that courts should treat mob lynching as among the gravest categories of murder.
No new defences or exceptions: The definition of murder under Section 101 BNS (corresponding to Section 300 IPC) remains substantively unchanged. The exceptions to murder (grave and sudden provocation, right of private defence, public servant acting in good faith, sudden fight, consent) continue to apply.
What this means for practitioners
For drafting and citations: In all FIRs, charge sheets, and court filings relating to offences committed on or after 1 July 2024, practitioners must cite Section 103 BNS instead of Section 302 IPC. Where the alleged murder involves a group of five or more persons and is motivated by identity-based grounds, the charge sheet should specifically invoke Section 103(2) BNS.
For pending cases: Offences committed before 1 July 2024 continue to be governed by Section 302 IPC. Section 358(2) of the BNS provides that the repeal of the IPC does not affect any penalty or punishment incurred for offences committed against it, and that proceedings may be instituted or continued "as if that Code had not been repealed". On the procedural side, Section 531(2)(a) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) provides that any investigation, inquiry, trial, appeal or application pending immediately before 1 July 2024 is to be continued in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
For new cases: Prosecutors dealing with mob violence incidents after 1 July 2024 now have a specific statutory provision in Section 103(2) BNS. Under the IPC, such cases could be charged only under Section 302 read with Section 149 (unlawful assembly) or Section 34 (common intention) of the IPC, requiring the prosecution to establish either common intention or common object. Section 103(2) simplifies this by creating a standalone offence where five or more persons act in concert to commit murder on identity-based grounds.
Does old case law still apply?
Section 103(1) BNS repeats the words of Section 302 IPC (see Key differences). On a reading of the text, Supreme Court judgments on the punishment for murder under Section 302 therefore remain relevant to Section 103(1). This guide does not survey post-July 2024 judgments applying them to the BNS.
Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab ([1983] 1 S.C.R. 145; 1980 INSC 120) — A five-judge Constitution Bench, by majority (judgment of 9 May 1980 delivered by Sarkaria J; Bhagwati J dissented, giving his reasons on 16 August 1982), rejected the challenge to the constitutionality of the death penalty in Section 302 IPC and the sentencing procedure in Section 354(3) CrPC. The majority held that, for persons convicted of murder, life imprisonment is the rule and death sentence an exception, and that a life ought not to be taken through the law's instrumentality "save in the rarest of rare cases when the alternative option is unquestionably foreclosed".
Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab ([1983] 3 S.C.R. 413; 1983 INSC 78) — A three-judge bench (M. Fazal Ali, A. Varadarajan and M.P. Thakkar JJ; judgment by Thakkar J, 20 July 1983), in appeals arising from the killing of seventeen people in a series of incidents in five villages, addressed how the "rarest of rare" cases identified in Bachan Singh are to be recognised. It described circumstances in which the collective conscience of the community may be so shocked as to expect the death penalty, under five heads: the manner of commission of the murder, its motive, the anti-social or socially abhorrent nature of the crime, the magnitude of the crime, and the personality of the victim. It then drew propositions from Bachan Singh, including that the circumstances of the offender must be considered along with the circumstances of the crime, that life imprisonment is the rule and death sentence an exception, and that a balance-sheet of aggravating and mitigating circumstances must be drawn up, according full weightage to the mitigating circumstances, before the option is exercised.
Section 103(2) BNS has no IPC predecessor, so no earlier judgment construes it. In Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India ([2018] 9 S.C.R. 291; 2018 INSC 617), decided on 17 July 2018, a three-judge bench issued preventive, remedial and punitive guidelines on lynching and mob violence (para 40) and recommended that Parliament create a separate offence for lynching and provide adequate punishment for it (para 43). The judgment does not interpret Section 103(2), which was enacted later.
Frequently asked questions
What is the BNS equivalent of Section 302 IPC? Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is the direct equivalent of Section 302 IPC. Sub-section (1) reproduces the identical punishment provision. Sub-section (2) adds a new provision for murder by a group of five or more persons acting in concert on specified grounds (described on this page as mob lynching), carrying the same punishment.
Does old case law on Section 302 IPC still apply under BNS 103? On a reading of the text, yes. Section 103(1) BNS repeats the words of Section 302 IPC, so Supreme Court judgments on sentencing for murder under Section 302 — including Bachan Singh (1980) on the "rarest of rare" standard and Machhi Singh (1983) on applying it — remain relevant to Section 103(1). This guide does not survey post-July 2024 judgments applying them to the BNS.
Which section applies to murder cases before 1 July 2024? Section 358(2) BNS provides that the repeal of the IPC does not affect any penalty or punishment incurred in respect of offences committed against it, and that proceedings may be instituted or continued and penalties imposed "as if that Code had not been repealed". On a reading of that provision with Article 20(1) of the Constitution, Section 302 IPC governs murders committed before 1 July 2024 whenever the trial takes place, and Section 103 BNS governs murders committed on or after 1 July 2024.
What is the punishment for mob lynching under the new law? Under Section 103(2) BNS, when a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other similar ground, each member of the group shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. The IPC had no corresponding provision; the sub-section itself does not use the expression "mob lynching".