Indian Penal Code, 1860
Public servant concealing design to commit offence which it is his duty to prevent. —
Section
119
Punishment
Life Imprisonment or Imprisonment up to Ten Year(s)
Cognizable
Cognizable
Bailable
Non-bailable
Compoundable
Non-Compoundable (Refer to CrPC 320 for exceptions)
Trial Court
Court of Session
Bare Act Text
119. Public servant concealing design to commit offence which it is his duty to prevent. —
Whoever, being a public servant, intending to facilitate or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby facilitate the commission of an offence which it is his duty as such public servant to prevent;voluntarily conceals by any act or omission or by the use of encryption or any other information hiding tool, the existence of a design to commit such offence, or makes any representation which he knows to be false respecting such design;If offence be committed. — shall, if the offence be committed, be punished with imprisonment of any description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one-half of the longest term of such imprisonment, or with such fine as is provided for that offence, or with both;If offence be punishable with death, etc. — or, if the offence be punishable with death or imprisonment for life, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years;If offence be not committed. — or if the offence be not committed, shall be punished with imprisonment of any description provided for the offence for a term which may extend to one-fourth part of the longest term of such imprisonment or with such fine as is provided for the offence, or with both.IllustrationA, an officer of police, being legally bound to give information of all designs to commit robbery which may come to his knowledge, and knowing that B designs to commit robbery, omits to give such information, with intent to facilitate the commission of that offence. Here A has by an illegal omission concealed the existence of B’s design, and is liable to punishment according to the provision of this section.
What is IPC Section 119 ?
According to the official bare act, this legal offense is defined as: 119. Public servant concealing design to commit offence which it is his duty to prevent. —
Whoever, being a public servant, intending to facilitate or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby facilitate the commission of an offence which it is his duty as such public servant to prevent;voluntarily conceals by any act or omission or by the use of encryption or any other information hiding tool, the existence of a design to commit such offence, or makes any representation which he knows to be false respecting such design;If offence be committed. — shall, if the offence be committed, be punished with imprisonment of any description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one-half of the longest term of such imprisonment, or with such fine as is provided for that offence, or with both;If offence be punishable with death, etc. — or, if the offence be punishable with death or imprisonment for life, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years;If offence be not committed. — or if the offence be not committed, shall be punished with imprisonment of any description provided for the offence for a term which may extend to one-fourth part of the longest term of such imprisonment or with such fine as is provided for the offence, or with both.IllustrationA, an officer of police, being legally bound to give information of all designs to commit robbery which may come to his knowledge, and knowing that B designs to commit robbery, omits to give such information, with intent to facilitate the commission of that offence. Here A has by an illegal omission concealed the existence of B's design, and is liable to punishment according to the provision of this section.
What is the punishment for Dhara 119 ?
The punishment for this specific offense is outlined under the law as: Life Imprisonment or Imprisonment up to Ten Year(s)
Is IPC 119 bailable or non-bailable?
Under the Indian Penal Code, this specific offense is classified as a Non-bailable offense.
Is Dhara 119 a cognizable offense?
The legal status regarding police arrest without a warrant is that this offense isCognizable.
Which court has the jurisdiction to try IPC 119 cases?
Cases pertaining to this specific IPC section are triable by the Court of Session.
Can IPC Section 119 be compromised (Compoundable)?
The compoundable nature of this offense, meaning whether the parties can settle it out of court, is classified as: Non-Compoundable (Refer to CrPC 320 for exceptions).
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Pramod is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of StudyHub. He holds a Master's degree and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Geology, alongside more than 7+ years spent building and verifying competitive exam content for Indian aspirants. He leads StudyHub's editorial process across Indian Polity, the Constitution, Indian Economy, History, Geography, Science, and the platform's other subject areas — checking every article against primary sources (bare act text and Gazette notifications for constitutional topics, government and Economic Survey data for economy content, standard reference material elsewhere) and flagging it for re-verification whenever a relevant amendment, policy, or data update makes an earlier version outdated.