BACK TO SECTIONS(2007) 14 SCC 771
Bailable (basic); Non-Bailable (aggravated)Cognizable: Non-Cognizable (basic); Cognizable (aggravated)Magistrate First Class / Court of Session
Reform Highlights
1
Consolidated from IPC 383–389 to BNS 308.
2
Digital extortion (sextortion, online blackmail) fully within scope.
3
Graduated sentencing: 3 years basic → 10 years when fear of death/grievous hurt → life when armed.
THE STATUTE
The Clause
Whoever intentionally puts any person in fear of any injury to that person, or to any other, and thereby dishonestly induces the person so put in fear to deliver to any person any property or valuable security, or anything signed or sealed which may be converted into a valuable security, commits 'extortion'.
Legal Commentary
Section 308 defines extortion — the offence of using threats to extract property or money from a victim. Extortion sits between theft (which involves stealth) and robbery (which involves immediate force) — in extortion, the property is surrendered by the victim because of fear induced by the offender, and the surrender may occur at a distance or after a delay. The three core elements are: (1) intentionally putting a person in fear of injury — to themselves or anyone else they care about; (2) the fear dishonestly induces the victim to deliver property, a valuable security, or anything that can be converted into one; and (3) the delivery of that property. The threat need not be of physical injury — threats to reputation (blackmail with intimate images), threats to property (arson threats), threats to livelihood (threatening to report tax evasion unless paid) all qualify. 'Valuable security' is broad — a signed blank cheque, a property deed, a promissory note, all count. The aggravated form — putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt to commit extortion — carries up to 10 years. The most extreme form — committing extortion while armed, or while threatening death — attracts life imprisonment. In contemporary India, digital extortion (sextortion — threatening to share intimate images, OTP fraud where victims are coerced into transferring money, organised crime protection rackets operating via WhatsApp) is among the fastest-growing categories of this offence.
Landmark Precedents
Dhananjay v. State of Bihar (2007)
RELEVANCE
Supreme Court held that for extortion, the fear must be intentionally induced — the accused must have deliberately used the threat as a means of obtaining property. Accidental inducement of fear does not constitute extortion.
Case Simulations
"A WhatsApp message threatening to harm a businessman's children unless he transfers ₹50 lakhs — extortion under BNS 308."
"A local political goon who visits shops monthly demanding 'protection money' under threat of damage to the shop — organised extortion."
"A person who records a colleague in a compromising situation and threatens to share it with their family unless paid — sextortion under BNS 308."
"A debt collector who threatens a borrower with death unless they repay — extortion by threat of grievous hurt, up to 10 years."
Expert Insights
Yes — sextortion. Threatening injury to reputation (by exposing intimate images) and thereby inducing the victim to transfer money is squarely within Section 308. This is one of the fastest-growing forms of digital extortion in India, prosecuted under both the BNS and the IT Act.
In robbery (Section 161), force or threat is used and property is taken immediately and in the accused's presence. In extortion (Section 308), the threat induces voluntary delivery — often remotely and after a delay. A ransom demand from a kidnapper who holds a victim elsewhere is extortion; a mugger who grabs your bag commits robbery.