BNS Section 120: Voluntarily Causing Hurt or Grievous Hurt to Extort Confession or Compel Restoration of Property (IPC 330 and 331 Mapping) (2026)

Explainer · Criminal Law · BNS

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Section 120 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the new criminal code in force since 1 July 2024, punishes causing hurt or grievous hurt to extort a confession or information, or to compel the return of property. It replaced Sections 330 and 331 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Causing hurt for this purpose carries up to seven years and a fine; grievous hurt carries up to ten years and a fine. If you still look up "section 330 IPC" or "section 331 IPC", this is the provision you now need. This explainer sets out what Section 120 covers, how it maps to the old law, and the punishment. Last verified October 2026.

01Why the section number matters now

Causing injury to force a confession, or to make someone give back property, was punished under Sections 330 and 331 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). These were the classic "custodial torture" provisions. Since 1 July 2024 the IPC is replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), and both provisions are now combined in Section 120.

This matters in practice. An FIR for an offence committed on or after 1 July 2024 is registered under the BNS, so it cites Section 120, not Section 330 or 331. An older case keeps its IPC numbers, because the law that applies is the law on the date of the offence. So for a while you will see both sets of numbers in live matters.

02What Section 120 covers

Section 120 of the BNS punishes voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt for a specific wrongful purpose: to extort a confession or any information that may lead to the detection of an offence, or to compel the restoration of property or a valuable security, or to satisfy a claim or demand.

The section has two parts:

• Section 120(1): causing hurt for that purpose.
• Section 120(2): causing grievous hurt for that purpose, which is treated more seriously.

03Key ingredients

To bring a case under Section 120, the prosecution must show:

• that the accused voluntarily caused hurt or grievous hurt;
• that it was caused for the purpose of extorting a confession or information, or compelling restoration of property or a valuable security, or satisfying a claim; and
• the degree of injury, which decides whether sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) applies.

The provision is most often associated with police or custodial conduct, which is why its illustrations use the example of an officer torturing a person to confess. But the words are general and are not limited to public servants.

04Old to new: IPC 330 and 331 to BNS 120

Sections 330 and 331 of the IPC are now combined in Section 120 of the BNS. Section 330 (hurt to extort confession) maps to Section 120(1), and Section 331 (grievous hurt to extort confession) maps to Section 120(2).

Note one common error. Some online lists pair "Section 120" with the old Section 326 (grievous hurt by dangerous weapons). That is wrong. Grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means sits in Section 118 of the BNS. Section 120 is about hurt caused to extort a confession or property.

05Punishment and classification

The punishment under Section 120 is:

• Section 120(1), hurt: imprisonment of either description for up to seven years, and a fine.
• Section 120(2), grievous hurt: imprisonment of either description for up to ten years, and a fine.

On classification, the offence is cognizable, so the police can register an FIR and investigate without prior approval of a court. The grievous-hurt form under sub-section (2) is treated as the more serious, and is generally non-bailable, while the hurt form under sub-section (1) is the less grave. For the exact bailable or non-bailable status and the trial court in a given case, check the First Schedule of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

06What changed from the old law

The main change is structural. Two separate IPC sections (330 and 331) are now one section with two sub-sections. The substance, hurt or grievous hurt caused for a wrongful purpose, is carried over, so case law under the old sections still guides how Section 120 is read.

Related provisions in the same chapter are easy to mix up, so keep them apart: hurt to deter a public servant is Section 121, hurt on provocation is Section 122, and hurt by poison is Section 123. This is general information, not legal advice, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.

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.

Charges of causing hurt to extort a confession usually grow out of custodial and investigation disputes, and they are tested through trial and appeal. Claw lets you trace how the courts have treated this ground, from the old Sections 330 and 331 to the new Section 120, across a collection of more than 30 crore judgments that the High Court record carries back to 1990 and the Supreme Court to 1950, each search answered in under 5 seconds. For a matter already running, Claw follows its cases, orders and hearings across 9,102 courts, benches and forums.

Claw keeps customer case files out of its AI model training, so a sensitive custodial brief stays yours alone. Set up a free Claw account to search and follow these matters by party or advocate name. To reach the wider 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 120, 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.

09Frequently asked questions