Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 · Chapter V: Of Offences against Woman and Child · Of offences relating to marriage
Section 91: Act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause to die after birth
In plain words
Doing something before a child's birth intending to stop it being born alive or to make it die after birth, and succeeding, is punishable with up to ten years in prison, or a fine, or both. It is not an offence if done in good faith to save the mother's life.
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
Whoever before the birth of any child does any act with the intention of thereby preventing that child from being born alive or causing it to die after its birth, and does by such act prevent that child from being born alive, or causes it to die after its birth, shall, if such act be not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the mother, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both.
Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 25 August 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 91
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.