Punishments, Including the New "Community Service"
Lists the kinds of punishment a court can impose under BNS: death, life imprisonment, imprisonment (rigorous or simple), forfeiture of property, fine, and — for the first time in Indian criminal law — community service.
Community service is currently available only for a specific, limited set of six offences: a public servant unlawfully engaging in trade, non-appearance in response to a proclamation, attempted suicide to compel or restrain the exercise of lawful power, petty theft (property worth under ₹5,000) where the property is returned and it's the offender's first such offence, misconduct in public by a drunken person, and defamation.
- This is genuinely new — the old law had no concept of community service as a sentence at all.
- It's deliberately narrow for now, limited to minor/first-offence situations, not a general alternative to imprisonment.
Useful context if you're following a minor case (like a first-time petty theft where the property was returned, or a defamation matter) — community service is now a real, legally available outcome, not just imprisonment or a fine.
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This is a plain-English summary, not verbatim statutory text. Adhikar is an independent citizen-awareness platform, not a Government of India website. Always verify against the bare Act (legislative.gov.in) or a qualified advocate before relying on this for an actual legal situation.