Negligent Conduct With Poisonous Substances Under the BNS (Section 286): IPC 284 Mapping (2026)
What negligent conduct with respect to a poisonous substance means under Section 286 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which IPC section it replaces, the punishment, and whether it is cognizable and bailable. Last verified October 2026.
Explainer · BNS · Offences Affecting Public Safety
Pesticides, industrial chemicals, and medicines are useful but dangerous. When a person handles a poisonous substance carelessly, or leaves one lying unguarded, the risk falls on everyone nearby. Indian criminal law makes that carelessness an offence, without waiting for someone to be harmed. Since 1 July 2024 the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) has replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and negligent conduct with respect to a poisonous substance, the old Section 284 of the IPC, is now Section 286 of the BNS. This explainer sets out what Section 286 covers, which old IPC section it replaces, the punishment, and whether the offence is cognizable and bailable. Last verified October 2026.
- New code: negligent conduct with respect to a poisonous substance is Section 286 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
- Old code: it replaces Section 284 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
- Punishment: imprisonment up to 6 months, or fine up to Rs 5,000, or both (the old fine ceiling was Rs 1,000).
- Classification: cognizable, bailable, triable by any Magistrate.
- Research and tracking: Claw searches judgments and tracks cases under this section across 9,102 forums.
01The problem: careless handling of poison
A poisonous substance in careless hands is a public danger. A sprayer who lets pesticide drift over people, a store that leaves toxic chemicals open, a clinic that fails to secure a dangerous drug, each creates a risk to life that is nobody’s choice but the handler’s. The law treats the carelessness itself as the wrong, so a person can be guilty even if, by luck, no one is hurt.
The practical issue today is the number. For generations this was Section 284 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. From 1 July 2024 it is Section 286 of the BNS. A charge drawn today uses Section 286, while older authorities are indexed under Section 284 of the IPC.
Negligent conduct with a poisonous substance is now Section 286 of the BNS, the old Section 284 of the IPC. The carelessness is the offence; actual harm is not required.
02What Section 286 says
Section 286 of the BNS covers two kinds of conduct with a poisonous substance:
- A rash or negligent act: doing any act with a poisonous substance so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life, or to be likely to cause hurt or injury to any person.
- A failure to take precautions: knowingly or negligently omitting to take such order with a poisonous substance in one’s possession as is sufficient to guard against any probable danger to human life from that substance.
Both limbs are about the risk created, not the result. A person who handles poison carelessly, or who fails to secure poison they keep, commits the offence if human life is endangered or hurt is likely, even if no one is actually injured.
Part of a family of public-safety offences
The BNS sets out a group of offences for careless handling of dangerous things. Negligent conduct with fire or combustible matter and with explosive substances are the neighbouring sections. See the explainer on negligent conduct with fire under Section 288, and on public nuisance under Section 270.
03The old-to-new mapping
The mapping is a direct carry-over of the offence to a new number, with a change to the fine.
| New code (BNS, 2023) | Old code (IPC, 1860) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Section 286 | Section 284 | Negligent conduct with respect to a poisonous substance |
So a person searching for "section 284 ipc in bns" is looking for Section 286 of the BNS. A charge drawn today uses Section 286, while older authorities are indexed under Section 284 of the IPC, so a full search covers both.
04Punishment and classification
The punishment under Section 286 is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or a fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or both.
On classification, the offence is cognizable and bailable, and triable by any Magistrate.
05What changed from the old law
For this offence the change is the fine. Under the old Section 284 of the IPC, the punishment was imprisonment up to six months, or a fine up to one thousand rupees, or both. Under Section 286 of the BNS the fine ceiling rises to five thousand rupees, while the six-month limit on imprisonment is kept. The two limbs of the offence are carried over unchanged, so old case law still guides how Section 286 is read.
A careful search covers both the new number and the old Section 284, because many reported decisions on what counts as rash or negligent handling of poison predate the BNS. For the wider picture of the change, see how the BNS changed the IPC.
06Where 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.
A negligent-poison case often grows out of an industrial or agricultural incident and travels with regulatory and civil proceedings, so you may be reading several threads at once. Claw lets you search more than 30 crore judgments in under five seconds, with Supreme Court rulings from 1950 and High Court rulings from 1990, so you can gather authorities under both Section 286 of the BNS and the old Section 284 of the IPC on what counts as rash or negligent handling of poison. It also lets you follow a live matter under this section, its orders and hearings, by party or advocate name across 9,102 courts, benches and forums. Create a free Claw account to collect the poison-negligence rulings and track a connected matter. For the wider view, see case search across Indian courts.
Claw does not file a case or give legal advice, and it does not use customer case documents to train its AI models.
07Sources and further reading
- India Code (official text of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
- Ministry of Home Affairs (new criminal laws): mha.gov.in
- BNS Section 286 (reference text): devgan.in
- Claw: clawlaw.in
This explainer is general information, not legal advice. Section numbers and punishments change through amendments and notifications, so check the current official text and take advice from counsel before you act.
08Frequently asked questions
What is Section 286 of the BNS?
Section 286 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 punishes doing any act with a poisonous substance so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or be likely to cause hurt, and negligently failing to guard against a probable danger from a poisonous substance in one’s possession. It came into force on 1 July 2024.
Which IPC section does BNS Section 286 replace?
Section 286 replaces Section 284 of the IPC. The two limbs of the offence are carried over, so a search for "section 284 ipc in bns" points to Section 286.
What is the punishment under Section 286 BNS?
Imprisonment of either description up to six months, or a fine up to five thousand rupees, or both. The fine ceiling is higher than the old one thousand rupees under the IPC.
Do you have to actually harm someone to be guilty?
No. The offence is in the rash or negligent handling that endangers human life or is likely to cause hurt, or the failure to take precautions against a probable danger. Actual harm is not required, though it may support other charges.
Is the offence cognizable or bailable?
It is cognizable, so the police can register and investigate without a Magistrate’s prior order, and it is bailable, so the accused can generally be released on bail as of right. It is triable by any Magistrate. Confirm the current classification against the First Schedule of the BNSS.
Can I find and track Section 286 cases in Claw?
Yes. Claw searches more than 30 crore judgments in under five seconds across both Section 286 of the BNS and the old Section 284 of the IPC, and it lets you follow live cases, orders and hearings by party or advocate name across 9,102 courts, benches and forums. It supports the research and tracking, and does not file the case or give legal advice.