Section 4

Section 4 is the foundational architecture of punishment in Indian criminal law, replacing IPC Section 53. At its core, it answers the question the state must ask after every conviction: what does society do in response? The BNS retains the five traditional punishments — Death, Life imprisonment, Rigorous and Simple imprisonment, Forfeiture of property, and Fine — but adds a sixth that signals a philosophical shift: Community Service. This addition moves Indian criminal law toward the global reformative justice model, recognising that prison is often counterproductive for minor, first-time offenders. Sending a petty thief to jail exposes them to hardened criminals, deprives their family of income, and embeds them in a culture of crime. Community Service, by contrast, keeps the offender in society, makes them contribute positively to the public, and avoids the stigma of incarceration. Rigorous imprisonment means hard physical labour in prison; Simple imprisonment involves confinement without mandatory labour — a distinction inherited from colonial-era thinking about dignity and class, though both are still custody. Forfeiture of property accompanies convictions for corruption, terrorism financing, and organised crime. Death remains available for murder (BNS 103), terrorism (BNS 113), and gang rape of a minor, though its use is tightly governed by the Supreme Court's 'rarest of rare' doctrine (Bachan Singh, 1980).