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Indian Penal Code, 1860 · Chapter XV: Of Offences Relating to Religion

Section 295A: Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024.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.

Now in the BNS section 299 (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs)

In plain words

Insulting or attempting to insult the religion or religious beliefs of any class of citizens of India, by words, signs, visible representations or otherwise, with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging their religious feelings, 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.

Read the in-depth explanation, with key Supreme Court rulings ↓

Official text

Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of [citizens of India], [by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise], insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, 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.

Understanding this section

Section 295A punishes deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens, by insulting or attempting to insult their religion or religious beliefs. It does not punish every insult to religion, only the aggravated form done with that deliberate and malicious intention.

Ingredients

  • Words, signs or visible representations insulting or attempting to insult the religion or religious beliefs of a class of citizens.
  • Done with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of that class.

Deliberate and malicious

The Constitution Bench upheld the section precisely because it is limited to the aggravated form of insult with deliberate and malicious intention. Insults made unwittingly, carelessly, or without that intention are not covered. This keeps the section within the public order restriction in Article 19(2).

Courts quash weak complaints

Complaints against artists, authors, actors and public figures are frequently quashed where the material, read as a whole, shows no deliberate and malicious intent.

Sanction

Prosecution needs prior sanction of the Government under section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Key Supreme Court rulings

  • Ramji Lal Modi v. State of U.P. AIR 1957 SC 620

    A Constitution Bench upheld section 295A as a reasonable restriction in the interest of public order, because it punishes only insults committed with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of a class.

  • Mahendra Singh Dhoni v. Yerraguntla Shyamsundar 2017 INSC 1282

    Section 295A does not penalise every insult to religion, only those perpetrated with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings; a magazine cover depicting the cricketer as a deity did not meet that test, and the complaint was quashed.

Common mistakes

  • Treating any offence to religious sentiment as a crime.
  • Ignoring the requirement of government sanction.

Read with: Section 153A IPC, Section 298 IPC, Section 299 BNS

Prepared with AI assistance as a study aid. Every ruling listed was checked against the Supreme Court's own judgments on this site, and quoted words appear in those judgments; linked names open the full judgment. Read the judgments themselves before relying on them. Not legal advice.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 295A