Question

Under which specific provision of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, has the definition of a 'Terrorist Act' been formally integrated into India's general penal legislation for the first time?

• A. Section 113
• B. Section 152
• C. Section 109
• D. Section 121

Hint:

Remember the sequence in BNS: Section 109 = Organized Crime, Section 111 = Petty Organized Crime, Section 113 = Terrorist Act. These are frequently tested provisions.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Concept: The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 introduced several significant changes in India's criminal law framework. One of the most notable reforms is the incorporation of provisions relating to terrorism directly into the principal penal statute. Earlier, offences relating to terrorism were primarily governed by special legislation such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Step 1: Understanding the significance of Section 113.

• Section 113 of the BNS, 2023 specifically deals with

terrorist acts.

• For the first time, the concept and definition of a terrorist act have been expressly incorporated into the general criminal code.

• The provision covers acts intended to threaten the unity, integrity, security, sovereignty, or economic security of India.

• It also includes acts intended to create terror among the people through violence, destruction of property, or disruption of essential services.

Step 2: Why the other options are incorrect.

• Section 152 deals with offences affecting the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India but does not define a terrorist act.

• Section 109 relates to organized crime.

• Section 121 is not the provision that introduces the definition of terrorist acts.

Therefore, Section 113 BNS is the provision that formally incorporates the definition of a Terrorist Act into the new penal code. \[ \boxed{\text{Correct Answer = (A) Section 113}} \]

Answer 2

This question names four numbered sections and asks which one, for the first time, formally wrote the definition of a "terrorist act" into India's general penal code. Testing each option against what it actually deals with settles this by elimination.

1. Section 113: This is the chapter provision inserted into the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 that defines a terrorist act by its intent, threatening the unity, integrity, security, sovereignty or economic security of India, or striking terror among the people, and by the means used, explosives, firearms, noxious substances and the like, along with a graded scale of punishment. Before this, such a definition existed almost entirely in special legislation like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, not in the ordinary penal code. Section 113 is the provision that brought this definition inside the general criminal law for the first time.
2. Section 152: This provision punishes acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, such as encouraging secession or armed rebellion. It protects a related interest of the state but through separate ingredients, and it carries no definition clause for a terrorist act as such.
3. Section 109: This is the organised crime provision, covering syndicates that commit offences like extortion, contract killing or cybercrime for material gain as a continuing unlawful activity. It answers a different mischief from terrorism and has its own separate definition.
4. Section 121: This section deals with an unrelated offence altogether and carries none of the specific intent-and-means ingredients that mark out a terrorist act.

Only one of these four sections is built specifically around the ingredients of a terrorist act, its intent and its means, and prescribes punishment for it directly in the general code.

The correct answer is Section 113.