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Indian Penal Code, 1860 · Chapter IV: General Exceptions

Section 79: Act done by a person justified, or by mistake of fact believing himself justified, by law

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024.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

Now in the BNS section 17 (Act done by a person justified, or by mistake of fact believing himself justified, by law)

In plain words

Nothing is an offence if done by a person who is justified by law, or who in good faith believes, because of a mistake of fact (not of law), that they are justified by law in doing it.

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

Nothing is an offence which is done by any person who is justified by law, or who by reason of a mistake

of fact and not by reason of a mistake of law in good faith, believes himself to be justified by law, in doing it.

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 79 protects a person who acts because the law justifies the act, or who honestly and in good faith believes, because of a mistake of fact, that the law justifies it. It is the companion of section 76: section 76 covers a person who believes they are bound by law, section 79 a person who believes they are justified by law.

The two limbs

  • Actual justification: the law really does permit the act, such as a private person arresting someone found committing a non-bailable cognizable offence.
  • Believed justification: the law would permit the act if the facts were what the accused honestly took them to be.

Mistake of fact, never mistake of law

The protection is for a mistake about the facts. A person who misreads the law itself gets no help, because everyone is presumed to know the law. So a person who seizes a stranger believing, on reasonable grounds, that they are the wanted thief is covered; a person who seizes a debtor believing creditors have a legal right to detain debtors is not.

Good faith means due care

Section 52 defines good faith: nothing is done in good faith which is done without due care and attention. A belief formed carelessly, or contrary to facts plainly in front of the accused, does not qualify. This is the point that usually decides the plea.

Section 76 compared

Section 76Section 79
BeliefBound by law to actJustified by law in acting
Typical personSoldier or officer obeying a lawful orderPrivate person or officer acting on their own judgment
Common requirementMistake of fact in good faithMistake of fact in good faith

Key Supreme Court rulings

  • Satyavir Singh Rathi v. State through CBI 2011 INSC 347

    Police officers who fired on a car of innocent citizens, mistaking them for a wanted criminal, could not rely on sections 79 and 34. There was no evidence that they fired on a superior officer's direction; the firing was in furtherance of their common intention, and their murder convictions stood.

  • Aveek Sarkar v. State of West Bengal 2014 INSC 75

    The publishers relied in part on section 79 when charged under section 292 over a photograph; the Court quashed the proceedings because the photograph was not obscene judged by contemporary community standards.

Common mistakes

  • Pleading section 79 for a mistake about what the law allows; only a mistake of fact counts.
  • Forgetting that good faith needs due care and attention (section 52); an honest but careless belief fails.
  • Treating the plea as one for the prosecution to disprove; under section 105 of the Evidence Act the accused must bring the case within the exception.

Read with: Section 76 IPC, Section 52 IPC, Section 17 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 79