Indian Penal Code, 1860 · Chapter VII: Of Offences Relating to the Army, Navyand Air Force
Section 137: Deserter concealed on board merchant vessel through negligence of master
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024. It still applies to offences and proceedings from before that date.
In plain words
The master or person in charge of a merchant vessel on which a deserter from India's armed forces is concealed is liable to a penalty of up to five hundred rupees, even without knowing of it, if they could have known but for neglect of duty or lack of discipline on board.
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
The master or person in charge of a merchant vessel, on board of which any deserter from the Army, [Navy or Air Force] of the [Government of India] is concealed, shall, though ignorant of such concealment, be liable to a penalty not exceeding five hundred rupees, if he might have known of such concealment but for some neglect of his duty as such master or person in charge, or but for some want of discipline on board of the vessel.
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 137
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.