BNS Section 109 (IPC 307): attempt to murder

What BNS 109 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

   Not planning or preparation. The act must be one that would cause death if it ran its course — firing the gun, not loading it (illustration (c)).

   and
2. 2

   Done with the intention or knowledge that makes a killing murder

   One of the states of mind in section 101: intent to kill, intent to cause an injury known to be likely to kill or sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to kill, or knowledge that the act must in all probability kill.

   and
3. 3

   In circumstances where a resulting death would be murder

   If a death would fall within one of section 101’s exceptions — grave and sudden provocation, for example — the attempt is under section 110, not 109.

   and
4. 4

   Whether or not death follows

   The offence is complete without a death or even an injury (illustration (b)). Whether hurt was caused matters for punishment, not for the offence.

Broken out from section 109(1) and its illustrations, read with section 101. Hurt, and a previous life sentence, raise the punishment; neither is an element of the offence itself.

What happens, and how long each part takes

1. FIR registeredon the day of the report

   Registered and investigated without a Magistrate’s order; the informant gets a free copy (BNSS s. 173).

2. Forensic visit to the sceneduring investigation

   Required for an offence punishable with seven years or more, from the date the State notifies, with the process filmed (s. 176(3)).

3. 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 days of detention (s. 187(2)).

4. Charge-sheetwithin 90 days of custody, or bail becomes a right

   Total custody before a charge-sheet is capped at ninety days for an offence punishable with death, life or a term of ten years or more (s. 187(3)(i)).

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

   A Magistrate cannot try section 109, and commits it after supplying the documents (ss. 230, 232).

6. 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 for recorded reasons (s. 258).

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