59. Whoever, being a public servant, intending to facilitate or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby 33 facilitate the commission of an offence which it is his duty as such public servant to prevent, voluntarily conceals, by any act or omission or by the use of encryption or any other information hiding tool, the existence of a design to commit such offence, or makes any representation which he knows to be false respecting such design shall,— (a) if the offence be coommitted, be punished with imprisonment of any description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one-half of the longest term of such imprisonment, or with such fine as is provided for that offence, or with both; or (b) if the offence be punishable with death or imprisonment for life, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years; or (c) if the offence be not committed, shall be punished with imprisonment of any description provided for the offence for a term which may extend to one-fourth part of the longest term of such imprisonment or with such fine as is provided for the offence, or with both. Illustration. A, an officer of police, being legally bound to give information of all designs to commit robbery which may come to his knowledge, and knowing that B designs to commit robbery, omits to give such information, with intent to so facilitate the commission of that offence. Here A has by an illegal omission concealed the existence of B’s design, and is liable to punishment according to the provision of this section.
IPC Section 119 in BNS: Section 59
Public servant concealing design to commit offence which it is his duty to prevent
Section 119 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Public servant concealing design to commit offence which it is his duty to prevent) corresponds to Section 59 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024. Under the BNSS First Schedule, BNS 59(a) is according as offence abetted is cognizable or non-cognizable, according as offence abetted is bailable or non-bailable, triable by Court by which offence abetted is triable; punishment: Imprisonment extending to one-half of the longest term provided for the offence, or fine, or both.
Bail, cognizability and punishment
| Section | Offence | Punishment | Cognizable | Bailable | Triable by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59(a) | A public servant concealing a design to commit an offence which it is his duty to prevent, if the offence be committed. | Imprisonment extending to one-half of the longest term provided for the offence, or fine, or both. | According as offence abetted is cognizable or non-cognizable | According as offence abetted is bailable or non-bailable. | Court by which offence abetted is triable |
| 59(b) | If the offence be punishable with death or imprisonment for life. | Imprisonment for 10 years. | According as offence abetted is cognizable or non-cognizable | Non-bailable | Court by which offence abetted is triable |
| 59(c) | If the offence be not committed. | Imprisonment extending to one-fourth of the longest term provided for the offence, or fine, or both. | According as offence abetted is cognizable or non-cognizable | Bailable | Court by which offence abetted is triable |
Source: BNSS, 2023, First Schedule, Part I.
The BNS applies to offences committed on or after 1 July 2024. Offences committed earlier are charged and tried under the IPC.
Text of BNS Section 59
Full BNS Section 59 and every IPC section it replaced →
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