Section 47

Section 47 is a jurisdictional extension provision — it ensures that abetment occurring within India is punishable under Indian law even when the abetted offence is physically committed outside India's borders. Without this provision, a person sitting in Mumbai who organises a murder to be carried out in Dubai, or who finances a terror attack in London, could technically argue that no Indian offence occurred on Indian soil. Section 47 closes this gap entirely. The section embodies the principle of active personality jurisdiction — India claims criminal jurisdiction over its nationals and over acts emanating from its territory, regardless of where the eventual harm materialises. This provision has become extraordinarily important in the era of cross-border terrorism, transnational drug trafficking, organised cybercrime, and international fraud. A terror financier in Karachi who is being funded by hawala operators in India, a drug cartel in South America receiving production orders from Indian distributors, or a cybercrime ring in Eastern Europe being directed by handlers in Bengaluru — all involve Indian-territory abetment of foreign-committed offences. Section 47 gives Indian courts jurisdiction over the abettors while extradition and international cooperation frameworks are used to pursue the principal offenders. Read with India's extradition treaties, mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs), and the Financial Intelligence Unit's cross-border tracking, this provision is a cornerstone of India's counter-terrorism and transnational crime architecture.