Section 20

This rule continues a long-standing principle from the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 82), carried forward into the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. It reflects the idea, rooted in old English common law (doli incapax), that very young children lack the mental maturity to form criminal intent. Rather than asking courts to judge each young child's understanding case by case, the law sets an absolute age cut-off for simplicity and to protect children from the criminal justice system entirely.

Courts under the old IPC Section 82 (the direct predecessor of this provision) treated this as an absolute, irrebuttable bar: no matter how serious the act or how mature the child seemed, a child below seven could not be convicted. Judges have consistently held that intent or motive is irrelevant here — the age itself is the complete defence. Since BNS Section 20 mirrors this language, the same settled interpretation is expected to continue.

• Myth: A child under seven can still be punished if the act was very serious, like causing someone's death.
  Fact: No — the law makes no exception for how serious the act is; a child under seven simply cannot commit an 'offence' under this section.
• Myth: This means the child's family faces no consequences either.
  Fact: The provision only protects the child from criminal liability; it does not affect civil responsibility (like compensation) that guardians might separately owe.