BNS Section 126 (IPC 341): wrongful restraint

What IPC 341 became, what counts as restraint, when blocking a private path is not an offence, and how it differs from wrongful confinement.

Quick answer

Section 341 of the Indian Penal Code is now section 126(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the definition in old section 339 is section 126(1). Wrongfully restraining a person — obstructing them from going where they have a right to go — is punishable with simple imprisonment of up to one month, or a fine of up to ₹5,000, or both. It is cognizable, bailable, triable by any Magistrate, and the person restrained may compound it without the court’s permission.

Punishes voluntarily obstructing a person from going in a direction they have a right to go — unless it is a private way the person obstructing believes in good faith they may close.

Now: BNS 126 — Wrongful restraint
Was: IPC 339 / 341
Punishment: Simple imprisonment up to 1 month, or fine up to ₹5,000, or both
Arrest without warrant: Cognizable
Bail: Bailable
Compounding: Compoundable
Tried by: Any Magistrate

Read this first: The person restrained can compound the offence without the court’s permission, and a composition has the effect of an acquittal (BNSS s. 359(1), (8)).

The number it had, and the number it has

Repealed — Indian Penal Code, 1860

IPC 339 / 341

Wrongful restraint.

In force — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

BNS 126(1)

Wrongful restraint.

MergedAlso marked changed

Several provisions of the Indian Penal Code were folded into one section of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, landing in its sub-sections. So the new number alone is not the answer — the sub-section is.

How this provision was renumbered
IPC 339	becomes BNS 126(1)	merged
IPC 341	becomes BNS 126(2)	merged

Key takeaways

Wrongful restraint is voluntarily obstructing someone from going in a direction they have a right to go (BNS s. 126(1)).
Obstructing a private way is not an offence if the person believes in good faith that they have a lawful right to obstruct it.
Stopping someone going beyond certain limits — locking them in — is wrongful confinement under section 127, a separate and heavier offence.
Cognizable, so the police register an FIR; bailable, so an arrested person who offers bail must be released.
The person restrained can settle the case without the court’s permission, and the settlement acts as an acquittal (BNSS s. 359).

What BNS 126 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.

The accused obstructed a person
By any means — standing in the way, a barrier, a locked gate.
and
Voluntarily
By means they intended, or knew or had reason to believe were likely, to cause the obstruction (s. 2(33)).
and
So as to prevent them going in a direction
The person is stopped from going one way. Stopping them going beyond certain limits at all is confinement (s. 127).
and
In which they had a right to go
Obstructing a way the person had no right to use is not restraint.
and
Not a private way closed in good faith
The Exception: obstructing a private way over land or water, believing in good faith in a lawful right to obstruct it, is not an offence.

Broken out from section 126(1), its Exception and illustration, read with the definitions of “voluntarily” and “good faith” in section 2.

A blocked path: when the Exception applies

1. Did the accused voluntarily obstruct the person from going in a direction they had a right to go?
If noNot wrongful restraint.
If yes
2. Was what they obstructed a private way over land or water?
If noThe Exception cannot apply. The obstruction is wrongful restraint.
If yes
3. Did they believe, in good faith, that they had a lawful right to obstruct it?
If noWrongful restraint — as in the section’s illustration, where A blocks Z’s path “not believing in good faith that he has a right to stop the path”.
If yes

Not an offence under section 126

But “good faith” has a legal meaning: nothing is believed in good faith if it is believed without due care and attention (BNS s. 2(11)).

From section 126(1), its Exception and illustration, and section 2(11). Whether a belief was held in good faith is decided on the evidence.

Is BNS 126 bailable, cognizable and compoundable?

Arrest, bail and the court come from the First Schedule to the BNSS; compounding comes from section 359. What follows from each label is given with it.

Arrest
Cognizable
The police may register a case and begin investigating on their own, and may arrest without a warrant from a Magistrate. You do not need a court order to get an investigation started.
Bail
Bailable
Bail is a right, not a request. The officer in charge or the court must release you on bail once you offer it — there is no discretion to refuse.
Compounding
Compoundable
May be compounded by the person restrained or confined. A compromise has the effect of an acquittal (s. 359(8)), and is not allowed where a previous conviction makes the accused liable to enhanced punishment (s. 359(7)).
Tried by
Any Magistrate
Triable by any Magistrate, which in practice means the Judicial Magistrate the case is allotted to locally.

Read from the First Schedule to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (printed page 185), and section 359 for compounding.

Punishment for wrongful restraint, against the offences around it

Section 126(2) sets simple imprisonment for up to one month, or a fine of up to five thousand rupees, or both. The section allows only simple imprisonment, where the confinement offences allow imprisonment of either description. There is no minimum, and a fine alone is enough. Because the maximum is so low, the case is a summons-case and may be tried summarily at the Magistrate’s discretion (BNSS ss. 2(1)(x), 283(2)).

Maximum imprisonment: wrongful restraint and the offences next to it

BNS 127(4) — wrongful confinement for ten days or moreup to 5 years
BNS 127(3) — wrongful confinement for three days or moreup to 3 years
BNS 127(2) — wrongful confinementup to 1 year
BNS 115(2) — voluntarily causing hurtup to 1 year
BNS 126(2) — wrongful restraintthis pageup to 1 month

From the section text. Every row except 127(4) may be punished with a fine alone. A maximum is a ceiling, not what a court awards.

What happens, and how long each part takes

FIR registeredon the day of the report
Registered without a Magistrate’s order; the informant gets a free copy (BNSS s. 173(1), (2)).
If the police refuseby post, then to the Magistrate
Send the substance in writing to the Superintendent of Police; failing action, apply to the Magistrate (s. 173(4)).
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, or a notice to appearduring investigation
Arrest only on section 35(1)(b)’s conditions; otherwise a notice (s. 35(3)). An arrested person who offers bail is released (s. 478).
Investigation and police reportstopped at six months from arrest, unless extended
In a summons-case the Magistrate stops an investigation not concluded in six months, save for special reasons (s. 187(9)). The informant is told of progress within ninety days (s. 193(3)(ii)).
Trial before a Magistratetypically months
A summons-case, without a formal charge, which the Magistrate may try summarily (ss. 274, 283(2)).

The time limits are the BNSS’s own. A court cannot take cognizance more than one year after the offence (s. 514). No provision fixes how long the trial takes.

Wrongful restraint or wrongful confinement? BNS 126 and 127 compared

Restraint stops a person going in a direction they have a right to go; they can still go elsewhere. Confinement is a restraint that stops them going beyond certain circumscribing limits — locking someone in a room, or posting armed men at a building’s exits (section 127(1) and its illustrations). Every confinement is also a restraint, but not the other way round, and section 127 grades the punishment by duration and purpose.

Restraint and confinement — punishment, classification and compounding

Offence	Maximum	Arrest / bail	Compounding
Wrongful restraint — 126(2)	Simple imprisonment 1 month, or ₹5,000 fine, or both	Cognizable; bailable	By the person restrained
Wrongful confinement — 127(2)	1 year, or ₹5,000 fine, or both	Cognizable; bailable	By the person confined
For three days or more — 127(3)	3 years, or ₹10,000 fine, or both	Cognizable; bailable	By the person confined
For ten days or more — 127(4)	5 years, and fine of at least ₹10,000	Cognizable; non-bailable	By the person confined
In secret — 127(6)	3 years in addition to other punishment, and fine	Cognizable; bailable	By the person confined
Knowing a writ for release has issued — 127(5)	2 years in addition, and fine	Cognizable; bailable	Not compoundable
To extort property, a confession or information — 127(7), (8)	3 years, and fine	Cognizable; bailable	Not compoundable

Sections 126 and 127 as enacted; First Schedule, printed pages 185–186; BNSS s. 359(1). Compounding by the named person needs no court permission in any of these rows.

If someone blocked your way or stopped you moving

Wrongful restraint is cognizable, so the police must register the information as an FIR and give you a free copy (BNSS s. 173(1), (2)). If the officer in charge refuses, you may send the substance in writing by post to the Superintendent of Police, and if that fails, apply to the Magistrate (s. 173(4)). You must be told how the investigation is progressing within ninety days (s. 193(3)(ii)).

A court cannot take cognizance of an offence with a one-year maximum or less once a year has passed; the date that counts is the day your information is recorded (s. 514). If you and the accused settle, you may compound the offence without the court’s permission, and the composition has the effect of an acquittal (s. 359(1), (8)). Where the dispute is really over whether a private path may be closed, the Exception discussed above decides whether this is an offence at all.

If you have been accused: the procedure and your rights

For an offence punishable with up to seven years, police may arrest only where section 35(1)(b)’s conditions are met and reasons are recorded; otherwise they issue a notice to appear, and a person who complies is not arrested unless the officer records reasons (BNSS s. 35(3)–(5)). A person over sixty or infirm may not be arrested for an offence punishable with less than three years without the prior permission of an officer of at least Deputy Superintendent rank (s. 35(7)).

An arrested person must be told the grounds and, because the offence is bailable, that they are entitled to bail and may arrange sureties (s. 47); a person who offers bail must be released (s. 478(1)). The case is a summons-case: if investigation is not concluded within six months of arrest, the Magistrate must stop it unless the officer shows special reasons (ss. 2(1)(x), 187(9)). Free legal aid is available to those who qualify.

Official sources checked

The statutes, rules and regulator pages the statements on this page were checked against.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — sections 2(11), 126 and 127
Read 13 September 2026. Section 126(1) with its Exception and illustration, 126(2), and every sub-section of section 127, from the enacted text.
BNSS, 2023 — First Schedule, rows 126(2) and 127(2) to 127(8)
Printed pages 185 and 186, read by eye. 126(2): cognizable; bailable; any Magistrate.
BNSS, 2023 — sections 2, 35, 47, 173, 187, 193, 283, 359, 478, 514 and 515
FIR and refusal, arrest and notice, bail, summons-case investigation limit, compounding and limitation.
Ministry of Home Affairs — corresponding sections, IPC to BNS
IPC 339 → BNS 126(1) and IPC 341 → BNS 126(2), both merged.

What to do next

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If you cannot pay for one, you do not have to

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NALSA — National Legal Services Authority
NALSA legal aid helpline (toll-free): 15100
Your District Legal Services Authority. Every district has one, at the district court, and it is the office that arranges a lawyer.

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Last reviewed September 2026.