Indian Penal Code, 1860 · Chapter XI: Of False Evidence and Offences against Public Justice
Section 222: Intentional omission to apprehend on the part of public servant bound to apprehend person under sentence or lawfully committed
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024.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
A public servant legally bound to arrest or keep confined a person under a court sentence, or lawfully committed to custody, who intentionally fails to arrest them, lets them escape, or helps them escape, is punishable according to the sentence involved.
- If the person is under sentence of death: imprisonment for life or imprisonment of either description for up to fourteen years, with or without fine.
- If under sentence of imprisonment for life or ten years or more: up to seven years, with or without fine.
- If under sentence of less than ten years, or lawfully committed to custody: 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, being a public servant, legally bound as such public servant to apprehend or to keep in confinement any person under sentence of a Court of Justice for any offence [or lawfully committed to custody], intentionally omits to apprehend such person, or intentionally suffers such person to escape or intentionally aids such person in escaping or attempting to escape from such confinement, shall be punished as follows, that is to say:—
with [imprisonment for life] or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to fourteen years, with or without fine, if the person in confinement, or who ought to have been apprehended, is under sentence of death; or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, with or without fine, if the person in confinement, or who ought to have been apprehended, is subject, by a sentence of a Court of Justice, or by virtue of a commutation of such sentence, to [imprisonment for life] *** ***
*** *** or imprisonment for a term of ten years or upwards; or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both, if the person in confinement, or who ought to have been apprehended is subject, by a sentence of a Court of Justice, to imprisonment for a term not extending to ten years [or if the person was lawfully committed to custody].
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.