Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Section 475 BNSS: Restriction on Remission or Commutation in Certain Cases

Section 475 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 places a statutory restriction on release from prison in specified life-imprisonment cases. It requires the prisoner to serve at least fourteen years of imprisonment before release where the conditions stated in the section are met.

Current law: The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is Act No. 46 of 2023 and came into force on July 1, 2024. The official text is available on India Code and through the Ministry of Home Affairs - New Criminal Laws resources.

Text of Section 475 BNSS

475. Restriction on powers of remission or commutation in certain cases.

Notwithstanding anything contained in section 473, where a sentence of imprisonment for life is imposed on conviction of a person for an offence for which death is one of the punishments provided by law, or where a sentence of death imposed on a person has been commuted under section 474 into one of imprisonment for life, such person shall not be released from prison unless he had served at least fourteen years of imprisonment.

Meaning and scope of Section 475

Section 475 is a limitation on the ordinary power of remission or commutation. It begins with a non-obstante clause, meaning that the minimum imprisonment requirement applies despite the general power to suspend or remit sentences under Section 473.

The restriction applies in two situations: first, when a person is sentenced to imprisonment for life for an offence for which death is also one of the punishments permitted by law; and second, when a death sentence is commuted under Section 474 to imprisonment for life.

Key rule: In the cases covered by Section 475, the prisoner cannot be released from prison before serving at least fourteen years of imprisonment. The provision regulates the earliest possible release through remission or commutation; it does not convert a life sentence into a fixed fourteen-year sentence.

How Sections 473, 474 and 475 work together

  • Section 473: deals with the power to suspend the execution of a sentence or remit the whole or part of the punishment, subject to the statutory procedure and conditions.
  • Section 474: deals with the power to commute specified sentences, including commutation of a death sentence.
  • Section 475: restricts release in the particular life-imprisonment cases described above by prescribing a minimum of fourteen years actually served in prison.

Why Section 475 is important

The section preserves a minimum period of imprisonment in the most serious category of life-sentence cases. It prevents the general remission power from being used to secure release before the statutory fourteen-year threshold where the offence carries death as a possible punishment or where a death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment.

Practical points

  • The fourteen-year rule applies only when the factual and sentencing conditions stated in Section 475 are satisfied.
  • The provision does not itself grant release after fourteen years. Any release must still depend on the applicable legal power, remission or commutation policy, and lawful decision of the competent government or authority.
  • Questions concerning remission, commutation and premature release may also depend on the sentencing order, the offence involved, applicable government policy, and other provisions of the BNSS.

Official legal reference

For the authoritative statutory text and current legislative material, consult the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 on India Code. The Ministry of Home Affairs also publishes official material relating to the new criminal laws.

Previous: Section 474 - Power to commute sentence Next: Section 476 - Concurrent power of Central Government in death sentence cases

Last reviewed: September 12, 2026.