BHARATIYA NYAYA SANHITA, 2023 · SECTION 351

BNS Section 351 — Criminal intimidation

Section 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 addresses “Criminal intimidation”. Read the provision below with its qualifications, exceptions and chapter context; the official source is linked alongside it.

Publisher: Ashish Sharma · Legal review pending. Prepare an error report →

IN PLAIN ENGLISH · EDITORIAL DRAFT

What this section means

Criminal intimidation concerns threats made with the intention of causing alarm, or making someone do something they are not legally bound to do or give up something they are legally entitled to do. Threats can concern a person, reputation or property, within the terms of the section.

A threat alone is not the complete statutory test: the required intention and the nature of the threatened harm matter.
Subsection (3) covers specified serious threats, including death, grievous hurt and destruction of property by fire.
Anonymous or deliberately concealed communications have an additional punishment provision in subsection (4).

Learning example

A person threatens to burn another person’s home to force them to abandon a civil claim. This illustrates the connection between a threat and an intention to compel someone to give up a legal entitlement.

For law students: points to examine

Separate the definition in subsection (1), ordinary punishment in (2), aggravated threats in (3), and concealed identity in (4). The published wording of subsection (4) refers to subsection (1); preserve that wording when quoting the Act.

Source-grounded draft checked against the cited editions on 27 September 2026. Independent legal review pending. This explanation is not the statutory wording.

Punishment & classification

Punishment under the BNS

Provision	Situation	Punishment summary
351(2)	Criminal intimidation	Up to two years of imprisonment, or fine, or both.
351(3)	Specified serious threats	Up to seven years of imprisonment, or fine, or both.
351(4)	Anonymous or concealed-origin communication	Up to two years of additional imprisonment; see the precise statutory wording below.

Central BNSS First Schedule

Provision	Situation	Cognizability	Bailability	Trial court
351(2)	Ordinary intimidation	Non-cognizable	Bailable	Any Magistrate
351(3)	Specified serious threats	Non-cognizable	Bailable	Magistrate of the first class
351(4)	Anonymous / concealed communication	Non-cognizable	Bailable	Magistrate of the first class

Classification is based on the cited central schedule, not a case-specific bail assessment. Applicable amendments and special provisions must also be checked. “Non-bailable” does not mean bail is impossible. Understand these terms →

Sources: BNS statutory text below · Official BNSS PDF, page 188 · Saved copy

Common questions

Can a message contain criminal intimidation?

The section uses “by any means”. The communication medium does not remove the need to prove the statutory ingredients.

Are all threats punished alike?

No. Subsections (2), (3) and (4) address different circumstances and punishments.

Read together

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Statutory text

351. Criminal intimidation.—(1) Whoever threatens another by any means, with any injury to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of such threat, commits criminal intimidation. ¶

Explanation.—A threat to injure the reputation of any deceased person in whom the person threatened is interested, is within this section. ¶

Illustration. A, for the purpose of inducing B to resist from prosecuting a civil suit, threatens to burn B’s house. A is guilty of criminal intimidation. ¶

(2) Whoever commits the offence of criminal intimidation shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. ¶

(3) Whoever commits the offence of criminal intimidation by threatening to cause death or grievous hurt, or to cause the destruction of any property by fire, or to cause an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, or to impute unchastity to a woman, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both. ¶

(4) Whoever commits the offence of criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication, or having taken precaution to conceal the name or abode of the person from whom the threat comes, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, in addition to the punishment provided for the offence under sub-section (1). ¶

Source edition: 6 October 2025. This preview uses extracted India Code text. Editorial verification and checks for subsequent amendments and commencement notifications are pending. About the source →