Section 304

Section 304 creates 'snatching' as a distinct criminal offence — one of the most significant new provisions in the BNS with no direct IPC equivalent. Under the IPC, snatching was prosecuted as either theft (Section 378/379) or robbery (Section 390/392) depending on whether force was used. This created a prosecution gap: phone snatching from a person's hand — the epidemic form of street crime in urban India — was often too quick and too minor in force to be robbery, yet the opportunistic nature, the directness of the victimisation, and the terror created distinguished it from ordinary theft. The BNS resolves this by creating a specific offence. Snatching is defined as theft committed by suddenly seizing or snatching a moveable property from a person without their consent. The key elements are: (1) it is a form of theft — therefore dishonest intention to take moveable property is required; (2) the taking is by sudden seizure or snatching — a quick, direct taking from the person themselves (not from their bag left unattended); (3) there is no consent. The provision criminalises the phenomenon known colloquially as chain-snatching, phone-snatching, and bag-grabbing — high-frequency urban crimes that have a severe psychological impact on victims, particularly women and the elderly. The punishment of up to 3 years, non-bailable and cognizable, gives police broader powers to act than ordinary theft (which is non-cognizable for first offences), reflecting the legislature's recognition of snatching as a distinct and serious social problem.