⚖️ SECTION 271, BNS 2023: When Negligence Becomes Criminal

Theme & Tags:
🦠 Public Health, Criminal Law, Infectious Diseases, Legal Reform
📘 Category: Polity & Law | GS Paper 2

🩺 Opening Whisper

What spreads faster than disease? A careless act — and sometimes, the law must chase even that.

📘 Key Highlights

• What Is Section 271, BNS 2023?
  • Penalises unlawful or negligent acts that may spread infectious diseases
  • Punishment: Up to 6 months imprisonment, fine, or both
  • Designed to safeguard public health in times of epidemics or outbreaks
• Origins in IPC
  • Mirrors Section 269 (negligent act) and Section 270 (malignant act) of the Indian Penal Code
  • Section 271 (BNS) = negligent spread
  • Section 272 (BNS) = malignant intention to infect
• Key Legal Features
  • Bailable offences
  • Requires mens rea: Accused must know or be expected to know the consequences
  • Used during health crises and emergency enforcement

🧪 Real-World Examples

Noida Biryani Case

• Restaurant owner charged under Section 271
• Delivered chicken biryani instead of veg
• Public health link unclear, raising concerns on overextension of the law

Covid-19 Lockdowns

• Sections 269 & 270 invoked widely
• Example: Singer Kanika Kapoor booked for negligence during early pandemic phase
• Used to enforce quarantines, mask mandates, and curfews

🏛️ Judicial Interpretations

• Mr. ‘X’ v. Hospital ‘Z’ (Supreme Court)
  • Section 269 cannot be used in consensual spousal relationships
• Courts clarified:
  • These provisions must align with other health laws like the Food Safety Act
  • Must avoid misuse in private or minor disputes

📚 GS Mains Mapping

• GS Paper 2
  • Legal Reforms: IPC to BNS
  • Rights vs Public Health
  • Judiciary’s Role in Health Emergencies
  • Criminal Law & Preventive Justice
• GS Paper 3
  • Disaster Management (Epidemics)
  • Public Health Systems and Legal Safeguards

📖 A Thought Spark — by IAS Monk

In the age of viruses, it is not only the infected who matter — but those who knew, could’ve known, and still acted carelessly.

🚨 Closing Whisper

Let not law be the last mask we wear — but the first hand we raise in caution.