Section 298 BNS: Injuring or Defiling Place of Worship With Intent to Insult Religion

Section 298 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) deals with destruction, damage or defilement of a place of worship, or of an object held sacred by a class of persons, when the required intention or knowledge concerning insult to religion is present.

Text of Section 298, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

298. Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult religion of any class. Whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such destruction, damage or defilement as an insult to their religion, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

Meaning and Scope of Section 298 BNS

The section protects places of worship and objects regarded as sacred by a class of persons. The prohibited act alone is not the entire offence. The provision also requires either an intention to insult the religion of a class of persons, or knowledge that the class is likely to regard the destruction, damage or defilement as an insult to its religion.

Essential Ingredients

For Section 298 BNS to apply, the statutory language requires the following elements:

There is a place of worship or an object held sacred by a class of persons.
The accused destroys, damages or defiles that place or sacred object.
The act is done with the intention of insulting the religion of a class of persons, or with knowledge that the class is likely to consider the act an insult to its religion.

Punishment and Classification

Punishment	Imprisonment of either description for up to two years, or fine, or both.
Cognizable	Yes.
Bailable	No. The offence is classified as non-bailable.
Court competent to try	Any Magistrate.

Intention or Knowledge Is Material

Section 298 expressly links criminal liability to the required mental element. Depending on the facts, the prosecution must establish the intention to insult the religion of a class of persons or the knowledge specified in the section. The existence of that mental element is therefore a material issue alongside proof of the alleged destruction, damage or defilement.

Chapter XVI: Offences Relating to Religion

Section 298 appears in Chapter XVI of the BNS, titled Of Offences Relating to Religion. The immediately following provisions deal with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, disturbance of religious assemblies, trespass on burial places and deliberate acts intended to wound religious feelings.

Commencement of the BNS

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is Act No. 45 of 2023. The Central Government appointed 1 July 2024 as the date on which the Sanhita came into force, except for section 106(2), which was excluded from that commencement notification.

Legal note: Whether Section 298 is attracted in a particular case depends on the facts, evidence, applicable procedural law and the required statutory intention or knowledge. This page provides general legal information and is not a substitute for case-specific legal advice.

Related BNS Sections

Section 297 Section 299 Section 300

Legal text and classification checked against official Government of India sources.