BNS § 106
Definition
Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, reproducing the substance of IPC § 304A (causing death by negligence). Sub-section (1) applies to medical negligence deaths: imprisonment up to 2 years, fine, or both. The Jacob Mathew and Martin D'Souza protections apply to § 106 prosecutions.
- Statute
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Section 106
- Replaces
- IPC Section 304A (death by negligence)
- Sub-section (1) covers
- Medical negligence deaths
- Penalty
- Up to 2 years imprisonment, fine, or both
Common questions
How do the Jacob Mathew and Martin D'Souza precedents apply to BNS Section 106 prosecutions?+
Those Supreme Court rulings set the threshold for criminal medical negligence at gross negligence, not mere error of judgement, and required an independent expert opinion before a doctor's arrest or formal charge in such cases. Because Section 106(1) carries forward the substance of the old IPC provision, courts apply the same protective threshold and procedural safeguards to prosecutions under the new section.
Does Section 106 apply only to doctors, or to negligence causing death generally?+
The base offence in Section 106 covers causing death by any negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, so it is not exclusive to medical practitioners. Sub-section (1) specifically addresses the medical negligence scenario and imports the extra procedural safeguards that case law developed for that context.
Related terms
- Bolam Test
- The UK standard for medical negligence from Bolam v. Friern Hospital Management Committee (1957) 1 WLR 582: a doctor is not negligent...
- Bolitho Qualification
- The qualification to Bolam from Bolitho v. City and Hackney HA (1997) 4 All ER 771: the responsible body of medical opinion...
- Helling V. Carey (1974)
- Washington Supreme Court case in which ophthalmologist Thomas Carey was held negligent for not performing tonometry on a patient under 40, despite...
- Jacob Mathew Test
- The framework from Jacob Mathew v. State of Punjab (2005) 6 SCC 1 for criminal medical negligence under IPC § 304A (now...
- Martin D'Souza Safeguard
- The procedural protection from Martin D'Souza v. Mohd. Ishfaq (2009) 3 SCC 1 requiring that before registering a criminal case against a...
- Montgomery V. Lanarkshire (2015)
- UK Supreme Court case replacing the Bolam test on risk disclosure with a patient-centred test: a doctor must take reasonable care to...
- NMC (India)
- The National Medical Commission, established under the NMC Act 2019, replacing the Medical Council of India. Comprises four boards (UGMEB, PGMEB, ARB,...