BNS Section 101: Murder, the Definition (IPC 300 Mapping) (2026)

Explainer · Criminal Law · BNS

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Murder is defined in Section 101 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the new criminal code in force since 1 July 2024. Section 101 replaced Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It sets out when culpable homicide becomes murder, and the exceptions that keep a killing out of the murder bracket. The punishment for murder is set separately, in Section 103 of the BNS. If you still look up "section 300 IPC", this is the provision you now need. This explainer sets out what Section 101 covers, how it maps to the old law, the four conditions, the five exceptions, and where the punishment sits. Last verified October 2026.

01Why the section number matters now

For more than 160 years, "Section 300" defined murder and "Section 302" punished it. Since 1 July 2024 the numbers have changed. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). The definition of murder now sits in Section 101, and the punishment in Section 103.

Note one point up front. If you reached this page expecting the punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, that offence is Section 105 of the BNS (old Section 304 IPC), not Section 101. Section 101 is the section that tells you when a killing is murder in the first place. For an offence committed on or after 1 July 2024, the FIR reads with the BNS numbers; older matters keep their IPC numbers, because the law that applies is the law on the date of the offence.

02What Section 101 covers

Section 101 of the BNS defines murder. Murder is culpable homicide that falls into one of four aggravated conditions, unless one of the stated exceptions applies. It does not, on its own, set the sentence.

Culpable homicide is the wider offence, defined in Section 100 (culpable homicide). Murder is the aggravated form of it. Every murder is a culpable homicide, but not every culpable homicide is a murder. Section 100 draws the outer circle; Section 101 draws the smaller, graver circle inside it.

03The four conditions and five exceptions

Culpable homicide is murder if the act that causes death is done in any one of these ways:

• with the intention of causing death;
• with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause the death of the person harmed;
• with the intention of causing bodily injury sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death; or
• with the knowledge that the act is so imminently dangerous that it must in all probability cause death, with no excuse for running that risk.

Even then, the killing is not murder if a recognised exception applies. Section 101 carries forward five exceptions: grave and sudden provocation; exceeding the right of private defence in good faith; a public servant exceeding lawful power in good faith; a sudden fight in the heat of passion without premeditation; and death caused with the consent of a person above eighteen years. Where an exception applies, the offence drops to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

04Old to new: IPC 300 to BNS 101

Section 300 of the IPC is now Section 101 of the BNS. The four conditions and the exceptions are carried over in substance.

Many online lists wrongly pair "Section 101" with the old Section 304. That is not correct. Section 101 is the definition of murder (old Section 300). The lesser-killing punishment of old Section 304 is now Section 105.

05Classification and where the punishment sits

Section 101 sets no punishment by itself, because it is only the definition. Once a killing is found to be murder under Section 101, it is punished under Section 103 of the BNS. The sentence there is death or imprisonment for life, and a fine.

On classification, murder is among the gravest offences in the code:

• Cognizable: the police can register an FIR and investigate without prior approval of a court.
• Non-bailable: bail is not a matter of right and is decided by the court.
• Triable by the Court of Session.

Death as a sentence is confined by the courts to the rarest of rare cases.

06What changed from the old law

For the definition of murder, the change is mostly the number. The four conditions and the five exceptions are carried forward, so the large body of case law under Section 300 of the IPC still guides how Section 101 of the BNS is read.

The thing to get right is the pairing. Culpable homicide (Section 100) is the genus; murder (Section 101) is the aggravated species; the sentence is in Section 103, not in Section 101. This is general information, not legal advice, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

Whether a killing is murder under Section 101 or drops to the lesser offence is argued at every stage, from committal and charge through prosecution evidence to appeal. Claw lets you read how Sessions courts and the High Courts have handled the four conditions and the five exceptions, drawing on more than 30 crore judgments that answer in under 5 seconds and that span the High Courts from 1990 and the Supreme Court from 1950, so the long line of Section 300 authority sits beside the new Section 101. It also keeps track of the cases, orders and hearings in a live matter across 9,102 courts, benches and forums.

Claw does not train its AI models on the documents customers upload, so a murder brief you bring stays private. Create a free Claw account to search and follow these cases by party or advocate name. To widen the search, see case search across Indian courts.

08Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the BNS, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
• PRS Legislative Research (BNS overview and IPC comparison): prsindia.org
• Section 101, BNS (bare text): devgan.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The law changes through amendments and judgments, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.

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