Section 53: Whipping

(1) No punishment of whipping shall be inflicted in instalments, or except in the presence of the Superintendent and Medical Officer or Medical Subordinate.

(2) Whipping shall be inflicted with a light ratan not less than half an inch in diameter on the buttocks, and in case of prisoners under the age of sixteen it shall be inflicted, in the way of school discipline, with a lighter ratan.

State amendments to this section

Assam.

Amendment of Section 53 of Act 9 of 1894.—Section 53 of the Principal Act shall be omitted.

[Vide Assam Act 12 of 1956, s. 6.]

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. 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. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 53

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