A Closer Look Into Section 92 of the IPC

The Indian Penal Code of 1860 is the substantive criminal law in India that lays down actions identified as criminal offences along with the associated punishments. It was drafted by the first law commission of India under the presidency of Macaulay and was passed by the legislative council. It received the assent of the Governor General of British India on 6th October 1860. Since its inception, it has been amended more than 75 times, mostly post-independence to make it suitable for the sovereign interest of the Indian Republic.

Chapter 5 of the Indian Penal Code contains certain sections, called General Exceptions, which are exempted from being considered as crimes. Among the different sections, Section 92 of the IPC exempts an act done in good faith for the benefit of a person without consent from the ambit of punishment. 

It reads, ‘Nothing is an offence by reason of any harm which it may cause to a person for whose benefits it is done in good faith, even without that person’s consent, if the circumstances are such that the person can’t signify consent, or if that person is incapable of giving consent, and has no guardian or other person in lawful charge of him from whom it is possible to obtain consent in time for the thing to be done with benefit.’

This section is also further subject to the satisfaction of certain provisions like:

•  It shall not be extended to the intentional causing of death, or the attempt to cause death.
•  It shall also not be extended when the person doing it knows to be likely to cause death, for any purpose other than the prevention of death, grievous hurt, or curing of any disease or infirmity. 
• Further, this exception shall not extend to the voluntary causing of hurt, or to attempting to cause hurt and to the abetment of any offence.

Let’s try and analyze section 92 of IPC with the help of certain illustrations for better understanding. 

If a person gets injured in a road accident and is insensible, the surgeon, in good faith, for the benefit of the individual, may have to perform the surgery before he recovers his power of judging for himself. Here, the surgeon has committed no offence. 

Similarly, sometimes when a person and a child are stuck in a house that is on fire, he may have to drop the child from the housetop onto the blanket(or safety net) held by the people or the rescue team. In such cases, there is a possibility of death from the fall. However, even if it results in death unfortunately, that person has committed no offence since his intention or ‘mens rea’ was not to kill the child, but rather for the benefit of the child, in good faith. 

Section 92 of the IPC was incorporated because as a society, we often engage in acts done in good faith for the benefit of another person even when there is a possibility of an accident. Hence, if such accidents are subjected to punishment by law, it would be detrimental to the morality of our society, and a law, as it is, should never act as a hindrance to good faith and empathy.