Compounding of Offences, and Withdrawal from Prosecution
Chapter Fifty-Four
Syllabus topic 3.1, "Mode of Taking Evidence and General Provisions as to Inquiries and Trials - Section 266 to 352"
Pages 356 to 362 of 699
In one line
Some offences are private enough that the law lets the injured man settle them; and separately, the Public Prosecutor may drop a case with the Court's consent.
In exam wording: section 359 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 lists the offences that may be compounded, and by whom, with and without the permission of the Court; section 360 permits the Public Prosecutor, with the consent of the Court, to withdraw from a prosecution before judgment.
Why the law has this at all
A criminal case is brought in the name of the State, not the complainant. That is the general rule, and it has a good reason: a crime is a wrong to the public order, and if the victim could call it off, the rich accused would simply buy his way out of every case.
But the rule is too wide at its edges. A quarrel between neighbours ends in a slap and a case of hurt. A brother-in-law is accused of defamation. A shop assistant took goods and has returned them. Prosecuting these to a verdict serves nobody. The parties have settled; the Court's time is spent on a dispute that no longer exists.
So the Sanhita draws a line and prints it as a table. On one side, offences private enough that the injured person may compound them himself. On the other, offences serious enough that he may compound them only if the Court permits. And everything not in either table is not compoundable at all, which is what section 359(9) says.
Section 360 is a different power belonging to a different person. Compounding is the victim's; withdrawal is the prosecutor's, exercised with the Court's consent, and now only after the victim has been heard.
Some words this chapter uses
To compound an offence is for the person wronged to agree to settle it, with the result stated in section 359(8): an acquittal.
Composition is the settlement itself.
Withdrawal from prosecution is the prosecutor's abandonment of the case, in whole or as to some offences.
Legal representative in section 359(4)(b) has the meaning given in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
Section 359(1): compoundable without the Court
These offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 may be compounded by the person named, with no permission required.
| Offence | BNS section | Who may compound |
|---|---|---|
| Enticing or taking away or detaining with criminal intent a married woman | 84 | The husband of the woman and the woman |
| Voluntarily causing hurt | 115(2) | The person to whom the hurt is caused |
| Voluntarily causing hurt on provocation | 122(1) | The person to whom the hurt is caused |
| Voluntarily causing grievous hurt on grave and sudden provocation | 122(2) | The person to whom the hurt is caused |
| Wrongfully restraining or confining any person | 126(2), 127(2) | The person restrained or confined |
| Wrongfully confining a person for three days or more | 127(3) | The person confined |
| Wrongfully confining a person for ten days or more | 127(4) | The person confined |
| Wrongfully confining a person in secret | 127(6) | The person confined |
| Assault or use of criminal force | 131, 133, 136 | The person assaulted or against whom force was used |
| Uttering words with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings | 302 | The person whose religious feelings were to be wounded |
| Theft | 303(2) | The owner of the property stolen |
| Dishonest misappropriation of property | 314 | The owner of the property misappropriated |
| Criminal breach of trust by a carrier, wharfinger and the like | 316(3) | The owner of the property concerned |
| Dishonestly receiving stolen property knowing it to be stolen | 317(2) | The owner of the property stolen |
| Assisting in the concealment or disposal of stolen property | 317(5) | The owner of the property stolen |
| Cheating | 318(2) | The person cheated |
| Cheating by personation | 319(2) | The person cheated |
| Fraudulent removal or concealment of property to prevent distribution among creditors | 320 | The creditors affected |
| Fraudulently preventing a debt or demand being made available to creditors | 321 | The creditors affected |
| Fraudulent execution of a deed of transfer with a false statement of consideration | 322 | The person affected |
| Fraudulent removal or concealment of property | 323 | The person affected |
| Mischief, where the only loss or damage is to a private person | 324(2), 324(4) | The person to whom the loss or damage is caused |
| Mischief by killing or maiming an animal | 325 | The owner of the animal |
| Mischief by injury to works of irrigation by wrongfully diverting water, private loss only | 326(a) | The person to whom the loss or damage is caused |
| Criminal trespass | 329(3) | The person in possession of the property |
| House-trespass | 329(4) | The person in possession of the property |
| House-trespass to commit an offence other than theft punishable with imprisonment | 332(c) | The person in possession of the house |
| Using a false trade or property mark | 345(3) | The person to whom loss or injury is caused |
| Counterfeiting a property mark used by another | 347(1) | The person to whom loss or injury is caused |
| Selling goods marked with a counterfeit property mark | 349 | The person to whom loss or injury is caused |
| Criminal intimidation | 351(2), 351(3) | The person intimidated |
| Insult intended to provoke a breach of the peace | 352 | The person insulted |
| Inducing a person to believe himself an object of divine displeasure | 354 | The person induced |
| Defamation, except the cases named against section 356(2) in the second table | 356(2) | The person defamed |
| Printing or engraving matter knowing it to be defamatory | 356(3) | The person defamed |
| Sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter | 356(4) | The person defamed |
| Criminal breach of a contract of service | 357 | The person with whom the offender contracted |
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