Indian Penal Code, 1860 · Chapter V: Of Abetment
Section 117: Abetting commission of offence by the public or by more than ten persons
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024. It still applies to matters and proceedings from before that date, as the repealing law provides.
In plain words
Abetting the commission of an offence by the public generally, or by any number or class of persons exceeding ten, is punishable with imprisonment of either description for up to three years, or fine, or both.
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 abets the commission of an offence by the public generally or by any number or class of persons exceeding ten, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three 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 (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. 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.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 117
- Dr. Tarun Kothari v. The State of NCT of Delhi, Through Chief Secretary & Anr
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Gurwinder Singh v. State of Punjab & Another
Whether the High Court was justified in upholding the order passed by the Special Judge, rejecting the application filed u/s. 439 CrPC by the appellant seeking regular bail in a case registered under the Unlawful…
- Gautam Navlakha v. National Investigation Agency
- Arnab Manoranjan Goswami v. The State of Maharashtra & Ors.
- Arnab Ranjan Goswami v. Union of India and Ors.