Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Section 7
Sentence may be (in certain cases of imprisonment) wholly or partly rigorous or simple
In every case in which an offender is punishable with imprisonment which may be of either description, it shall be competent to the Court which sentences such offender to direct in the sentence that such imprisonment shall be wholly rigorous, or that such imprisonment shall be wholly simple, or that any part of such imprisonment shall be rigorous and the rest simple.
Why this exists
Indian criminal law has long distinguished between 'simple' imprisonment (confinement only) and 'rigorous' imprisonment (confinement plus hard labour). Many offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (as under the earlier Indian Penal Code, 1860, from which this provision is carried forward almost verbatim, mirroring old Section 60 IPC) prescribe imprisonment 'of either description,' leaving the choice to the sentencing judge. This section makes explicit that courts have flexibility to tailor sentences to the facts of a case, rather than being locked into an all-or-nothing choice between hard labour and ordinary confinement.
How courts read it
Courts have historically treated this discretion as a sentencing tool to be exercised judicially, considering the offender's age, health, nature of the offence, and circumstances of the crime, rather than mechanically. The equivalent provision under the old Penal Code was understood as giving trial courts flexibility, and appellate courts have at times modified the rigorous/simple split when sentencing discretion appeared unreasoned or harsh, though no single landmark judgment is typically cited specifically for this provision.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: Rigorous imprisonment and simple imprisonment are separate offences or separate charges.
Fact: They are not separate charges; they are two ways of serving the same imprisonment sentence, and this section lets courts choose or combine them when the law allows imprisonment 'of either description.' - Myth: Judges must pick either all-rigorous or all-simple imprisonment, with no middle ground.
Fact: The section explicitly allows splitting the sentence, so part of the term can be rigorous and the rest simple.