Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 388
repealedExtortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life, etc
Whoever commits extortion by putting any person in fear of an accusation against that person or any other, of having committed or attempted to commit any offence punishable with death, or with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, or of having attempted to induce any other person to commit such offence, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine;
Why this exists
This section deals with a particularly manipulative form of extortion, where the threat is not of physical violence but of ruining someone's reputation or freedom through a false or damaging accusation of a very serious crime. The law recognises that the fear of being wrongly branded a serious criminal can be just as coercive as fear of physical harm, so this form of extortion is punished as severely as extortion by threat of grievous hurt. A comparable provision continues under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the Indian Penal Code in 2024.