Section 326 - Voluntarily Causing Grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means.
Section 326 IPC, defines as well as prescribes punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt to any person by using any deadly weapons or other dangerous means.
Sec 326 IPC as defined under the Code reads as, “Whoever, except in the case provided for by section 335, voluntarily causes grievous hurt by means of any instrument for shooting, stabbing, or cutting, or any instrument which, used as a weapon of offence, is likely to cause death, or by means of fire or any heated substance, or by means of any explosive substance, or by means of any substance which it is deleterious to the human body to inhale, to swallow, or to receive into the blood, or by means of any animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine."
Sections 319- 335 of the Code deals with the offences of hurt, voluntarily causing hurt, grievous hurt and every covers every act which may cause bodily harm, injury or even death of a person.
Section 326 Indian Penal Code here deals with the acts where the injury caused or which is likely to cause the death of the person, was committed by using dangerous weapons used for cutting, stabbing, shooting or any other measure like fire, explosive substances and etc.
To hold a person liable for punishment for committing the offence under sec 326 Indian Penal Code, the following ingredients must be present. These are:
- Accused must commit an act with the knowledge that he was likely to cause grievous hurt to the victim.
- He voluntarily caused it. No one forced him to do such an act.
- He committed it by following means:
- By any instrument of stabbing, shooting or cutting;
- By an instrument, which if used as a weapon, can cause death of a person.
- By fire or any other heated substance.
- By any poisonous or corrosive substance
- By using any kind of explosive substances
- By using substances which are hard to swallow or inhale by a human body.
IPC Section 326 will not be attracted if any of these ingredients is missing, and if there was no intention of the person committing the act to cause death or if he was unaware of the fact that his act can cause grievous hurt which can result in the death of the person suffering it.
Extending the scope and ambit of section 326 IPC, further subsections were added, with a view to cover all the possible acts falling under the term “grievous hurt”.
Depending on the nature and gravity of the offence committed under sec 326 IPC, the punishment includes imprisonment for life, or it could be extended for a term of 10 years and also makes a person liable to pay fine.
Offences committed under IPC 326 are Cognizable and non-bailable, triable by Magistrate of the first class.
Moving further with IPC section 326, it is divided into two subsections. These reads as:
- Section 326A- Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by the use of acid, etc.
This sections as defined in the code states that, “Whoever causes permanent or partial damage or deformity to, or burns or maims or disfigures or disables, any part of the body of a person or causes grievous hurt by throwing acid on or by administering acid to that person, or by using any other means with the intention of causing or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause such injury or hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and with fine;
Provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses of the treatment of the victim:
Provided further that any fine imposed under this section shall be paid to the victim.”
- Section 326B- Voluntarily throwing or attempting to throw acid
This section reads as, “Whoever throws or attempts to throw acid on any person or attempts to administer acid to any person, or attempts to use any other means, with the intention of causing permanent or partial damage or deformity or burns or maiming or disfigurement or disability or grievous hurt to that person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years, but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
For these sections there are certain explanations, stated as:
Explanation-1: For the purposes of Section 326A and this section, “acid” includes any substance which has an acidic or corrosive character or burning nature, that is capable of causing bodily injury leading to scars or disfigurement or temporary or permanent disability.
Whereas, Explanation-2 says, For the purpose of this sec 326 IPC and this section permanent or partial damage or deformity shall not be required to be irreversible.
Now, it is better to read IPC sections 326 and 326B together. This is so because section 326B is the cause and section 326A provides the effect.
Voluntarily throwing acid or even attempting to throw acid is an offence. Whereas, if acid thrown causes grievous hurt, it becomes an offence under Sec 326B IPC.
There is one major difference between the two sections. To attract 326A, intention or knowledge will be necessary, whereas, 326B solely depends on the intention.
The term of punishment for section 326A is punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 10 years and may be extended to life imprisonment and fine is to be paid to the victim. These cases are cognizable and non-bailable, triable by Court of Sessions.
Whereas, an offence under section 326B is punishable with imprisonment for 5 years, but may be extended to 7 years with fine. These are cognizable and non-bailable offences which shall be tried by the Court of Sessions.
