BNS Section 119: Voluntarily Causing Hurt or Grievous Hurt to Extort Property or Constrain to an Illegal Act (IPC 327 and 329 Mapping) (2026)

Explainer · Criminal Law · BNS

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Section 119 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) punishes voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to extort property, or to force the victim to do something illegal. The full title covers both hurt and grievous hurt, and both the extortion of property and constraining a person to an illegal act. The BNS has been in force since 1 July 2024. Section 119 replaced Sections 327 and 329 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). If you still look up "section 327 IPC" or "section 329 IPC", this is the provision you now need. This explainer sets out the two subsections, the punishments, how they map to the old law, and the classification. Last verified October 2026.

01Why the section number changed

For generations, causing hurt to extort property sat in Section 327 of the Indian Penal Code, and causing grievous hurt for the same purpose sat in Section 329. Since 1 July 2024 the IPC is replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and both now sit together in Section 119 of the BNS.

This matters in daily practice. A charge for an offence committed on or after 1 July 2024 is framed under the BNS, so it cites Section 119, not Section 327 or 329. An older matter keeps its IPC numbers, because the law that applies is the law on the date of the offence.

02What Section 119 covers

Section 119 covers voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt where the purpose is either to extort property or a valuable security, or to constrain the sufferer, or any person interested in the sufferer, to do something that is illegal or that may facilitate the commission of an offence. The violence is a tool, used to force money, property or an unlawful act.

The offence gathers together the old Sections 327 and 329 and sets out the two levels of harm in one section, with a heavier punishment where grievous hurt is caused.

03The two subsections

Section 119 is in two parts:

• Section 119(1): whoever voluntarily causes hurt for the purpose of extorting property or a valuable security from the sufferer or a person interested in the sufferer, or to constrain them to do anything illegal or to facilitate an offence, is punished with imprisonment of either description up to ten years, and a fine.
• Section 119(2): whoever voluntarily causes grievous hurt for any of those purposes is punished with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description up to ten years, and a fine.

The dividing line between the two subsections is whether the harm is simple hurt or grievous hurt. Whether an injury is grievous is decided by the statutory definition of grievous hurt.

04Old to new: IPC 327 and 329 to BNS 119

Sections 327 and 329 of the IPC are now combined in Section 119 of the BNS.

Because the offences are carried over, case law under Sections 327 and 329 still guides how Section 119 is read.

05Punishment and classification

The punishment under Section 119(1), for hurt, is imprisonment of either description up to ten years, and a fine. The punishment under Section 119(2), for grievous hurt, is imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description up to ten years, and a fine.

On classification, the offence under Section 119 is treated as:

• Cognizable: the police can register an FIR and investigate without prior approval of a court.
• Non-bailable: bail is not a matter of right and is decided by the court.
• Trial court: the hurt offence under Section 119(1) is triable by a Magistrate of the first class, and the grievous hurt offence under Section 119(2), which carries life, is triable by the Court of Session.

06How it differs from plain hurt

Plain hurt and grievous hurt, without the element of extortion or coercion, are dealt with under the general hurt provisions of the BNS, which carry lower punishments. Section 119 applies only where the hurt is caused for the specific purpose of extorting property or a valuable security, or of constraining a person to do an illegal act or to facilitate an offence.

So the purpose behind the violence is what moves a case into Section 119. Without that purpose, a lesser hurt offence applies.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

Section 119 cases rarely travel alone. They sit next to extortion and criminal intimidation charges, so the record stretches across several sections and sometimes several courts. To argue one you need to trace how judges have read the old Sections 327 and 329 and the new Section 119. Claw reaches more than 30 crore judgments and keeps the cases, orders and hearings on this section in one place, retrievable by party or advocate name, spanning 9,102 courts, benches and forums, with answers in well under five seconds. The statutory meaning of grievous hurt, which decides which subsection applies, is set out in Section 116 of the BNS.

Your uploaded briefs stay private, because Claw does not use customer documents to train its AI models. Set up a free Claw account and look up Section 119 matters by the party or the advocate involved. To search the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

08Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the BNS, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
• PRS Legislative Research (BNS overview and IPC comparison): prsindia.org
• Section 119, BNS (bare text): devgan.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The law changes through amendments and judgments, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.

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