BACK TO SECTIONS(2001) 8 SCC 756
BNS 2024ACTIVE FRAMEWORK
Section 91
Act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth
Replaces colonial-era: IPC 315
Non-BailableCognizable: CognizableCourt of Session
Reform Highlights
1
Renumbered from IPC 315 to BNS 91.
2
Substantive law preserved — acts intended to prevent live birth or cause death after birth remain criminal with up to 10 years.
THE STATUTE
The Clause
Whoever before the birth of any child does any act with the intention of thereby preventing that child from being born alive or causing it to die after birth, and does by such act prevent that child from being born alive, or causes it to die after birth, shall, if such act be not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the mother, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both.
Legal Commentary
Section 91 addresses two related but distinct acts: preventing a live birth (causing a foetus that would otherwise be born alive to be born dead) and causing a child to die after birth. This covers the extreme end of sex-selective termination — where a foetus is killed immediately before or after delivery, a practice historically more common in some communities for female foetuses. The provision is broader than the Prohibition of Sex Selection Act (PCPNDT Act, 1994), which specifically targets sex-selective termination during pregnancy — BNS 91 applies to acts at or immediately around birth. The section protects every child's right to be born alive and to live after birth, regardless of sex, disability, or any other characteristic. The good faith exception for saving the mother's life ensures that legitimate obstetric interventions — including difficult deliveries where foetal loss is medically unavoidable — are not criminalised. In practice, this provision is most relevant to infanticide cases and extreme cases of sex-selective violence around childbirth.
Landmark Precedents
Centre for Enquiry into Health v. Union of India (2001)
RELEVANCE
Sex-selective late-term termination violates both the PCPNDT Act and BNS 91 — both statutes operate concurrently and complement each other.
Case Simulations
"A medical professional who, during delivery, intentionally administers a lethal injection to a viable foetus to ensure it is stillborn — BNS 91."
"A family member who causes a newborn girl to die immediately after birth to avoid a daughter — BNS 91 and potentially BNS 103 (murder)."
"An obstetric intervention that unavoidably results in foetal death in order to save the mother's life — protected by the good faith exception."
Expert Insights
It refers to an intentional act done to ensure a child is born dead rather than alive — distinct from a miscarriage (termination earlier in pregnancy). It covers acts done during or immediately before labour with the intent to kill the foetus.
Section 91 covers causing a child to die after birth as well as preventing live birth. Killing a child immediately after birth ('neonaticide') falls within the section — though it may also be charged as murder under BNS 103 depending on circumstances.