The threat only counts if the public servant is actually hurt.

The law punishes merely 'holding out' the threat—actual harm doesn't need to happen for the offence to be complete.

This only applies if you threaten the official directly.

It also applies if you threaten someone the accused believes the official cares about, such as a family member.

Any threat to an official, for any reason, falls under this section.

The threat must specifically aim to make the official do, delay, or avoid an act connected to their official duties—unrelated personal threats fall outside this provision.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 224

Threat of injury to public servant

Whoever holds out any threat of injury to any public servant, or to any person in whom he believes that public servant to be interested, for the purpose of inducing that public servant to do any act, or to forbear or delay to do any act, connected with the exercise of the public functions of such public servant, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.§

Why this exists

Public servants—police officers, clerks, inspectors, judges' staff, and similar officials—must be able to perform their duties without fear of intimidation. This provision, inherited from a similar section in the old Indian Penal Code, criminalizes attempts to bully or coerce officials by threatening them or people close to them, so that official decisions are made on merit and law, not under duress.

Common misconceptions

Myth: The threat only counts if the public servant is actually hurt.
Fact: The law punishes merely 'holding out' the threat—actual harm doesn't need to happen for the offence to be complete.
Myth: This only applies if you threaten the official directly.
Fact: It also applies if you threaten someone the accused believes the official cares about, such as a family member.
Myth: Any threat to an official, for any reason, falls under this section.
Fact: The threat must specifically aim to make the official do, delay, or avoid an act connected to their official duties—unrelated personal threats fall outside this provision.