IPC 302 (now BNS 103): punishment for murderधारा 302 IPC (अब BNS 103): हत्या की सज़ा

What BNS 103 actually requires

Every part below has to be present. This is not a list of factors to be weighed — if one element is missing, the offence is not made out at all, however bad the conduct looks.

1. 1

   An act by the accused

   Something the accused did — alone, or together with others who shared the intention.

   and
2. 2

   That causes the death of a person

   The act must cause the death. Speeding up the death of someone already ill counts (s. 100, Explanation 1).

   and
3. 3

   With one of four states of mind (s. 101)

   Intent to kill; intent to cause an injury known to be likely to kill that person; intent to cause an injury sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to kill; or knowing the act is so dangerous it must in all probability kill.

   and
4. 4

   And no exception applies

   None of section 101’s five exceptions covers it — set out further down this page.

Section 103 punishes; section 101 defines. The elements are read from section 101 together with section 100, which defines culpable homicide.

What happens, and how long each part takes

1. FIR registeredon the day of the report

   Registered and investigated without a Magistrate’s order (BNSS s. 173).

2. From here it is not yours to control

   Everything below happens on the investigating agency’s timetable and the court’s, not yours. You can follow it and you can be heard in it; you cannot set its pace.

   Arrest and productionwithin 24 hours

   Before a Magistrate, who may authorise police custody of up to fifteen days in all, within the first sixty (s. 187(2)).

3. Charge-sheetwithin 90 days of custody, or default bail may be claimed

   Total custody before a charge-sheet is capped at ninety days for an offence punishable with death (s. 187(3)(i)). If the report is not filed in time, the accused may claim default bail, subject to claiming it at the legally relevant time and being prepared to furnish bail; detention may continue until bail is furnished.

   Custody running out before a charge-sheet? Count the days in the default bail calculator →

4. Committal to the Court of Session90 days from cognizance, extendable to 180

   A Magistrate cannot try murder, and commits it after supplying the documents (ss. 230, 232).

5. Trial and judgmenttypically years; judgment within 30 days of arguments, or 45

   Charge, evidence and arguments; then judgment within thirty days of arguments, or forty-five (s. 258).

The time limits are the BNSS’s own. No provision fixes how long a murder trial takes; the NCRB figures below show how many were still pending at the end of 2024.