Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Section 170
Bribery
(1) Whoever—
(i) gives a gratification to any person with the object of inducing him or any other person to exercise any electoral right or of rewarding any person for having exercised any such right; or
(ii) accepts either for himself or for any other person any gratification as a reward for exercising any such right or for inducing or attempting to induce any other person to exercise any such right, commits the offence of bribery: Provided that a declaration of public policy or a promise of public action shall not be an offence under this section.
(2) A person who offers, or agrees to give, or offers or attempts to procure, a gratification shall be deemed to give a gratification.
(3) A person who obtains or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain a gratification shall be deemed to accept a gratification, and a person who accepts a gratification as a motive for doing what he does not intend to do, or as a reward for doing what he has not done, shall be deemed to have accepted the gratification as a reward.
Why this exists
Free and fair elections depend on voters making choices without being paid or pressured. Bribery provisions like this have existed in Indian law since the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (Section 171B) and were carried forward, with modernized language, into the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The goal is to protect the integrity of the electoral process by criminalizing both sides of a bribery transaction—the giver and the taker—while still allowing legitimate political promises about future policies.
How courts read it
Indian courts, interpreting the earlier identical provision under the Indian Penal Code, have distinguished between illegal bribery and legitimate electoral promises. Courts have held that broad promises of welfare schemes or policy action, made to the electorate generally, do not amount to bribery, since the proviso protects genuine 'declarations of public policy.' However, targeted payments or gifts to specific voters in exchange for their vote have been treated as bribery, and courts have emphasized that even an attempt or offer—without actual payment—is enough to constitute the offence.
Common misconceptions
- Myth: Only the person who actually receives the bribe can be punished.
Fact: The law punishes both the giver and the taker of a bribe, and even just offering, attempting, or agreeing to a bribe is enough — the transaction doesn't need to be completed. - Myth: Promising better roads, jobs, or welfare schemes during a campaign is bribery.
Fact: Courts have clarified that general promises of public policy or government action to the public at large are not bribery under this section — the proviso protects such promises.