BACK TO SECTIONS(2015) 2 SCC (Cri) 101
Non-BailableCognizable: YesMagistrate First Class
THE STATUTE
Original Text
Whoever, with the intention to commit theft, suddenly or quickly or forcibly seizes or secures or grabs or takes away from any person... any movable property... shall be guilty of snatching.
Simplified
Section 379A (introduced through state amendments, notably Haryana) is now a national provision under BNS Section 304 — one of the BNS's most practically relevant new provisions with no direct IPC equivalent at the national level. Snatching addresses the gap between theft (stealth, no force) and robbery (immediate force or threat of force) — the quick-grab theft like chain snatching and phone snatching that plague urban India. The BNS's Section 304 makes snatching a standalone cognizable, non-bailable offence with a 3-year maximum, giving police broader arrest powers than ordinary theft.
Legal Evolution
Section 379A on snatching was inserted by the Criminal Law Amendment (Punjab) Act 2014 and later adopted more widely to address a specific form of street theft — the sudden grabbing of property from a person's possession without the force required for robbery. The provision fills a gap between simple theft (Section 379) and robbery (Section 390), responding to the endemic problem of chain-snatching and mobile phone theft in urban India. The five-year maximum reflects the added element of direct personal confrontation.
Landmark Precedents
Suresh v. State of Haryana (2015)
RELEVANCE
Upheld conviction under state snatching provision — suddenness and quickness of taking before victim can resist is the distinguishing feature from ordinary theft.
Practical Scenarios
"A motorcyclist who grabs a pedestrian's phone and rides away in one motion — snatching under BNS 304."
"Chain snatching by bicycle riders — snatching under BNS 304."
Common Queries
Snatching is a quick-grab theft without force or the threat of force. Robbery (Section 390) requires the use of or immediate threat of violence. A phone grabbed from your hand is snatching; threatening or pushing you before taking it is robbery.