General Exceptions
BNS Section 36 - Right of private defence against act of a person of unsound mind, etc
Simple summary
Read the official BNS text below and consult an advocate for advice based on your facts.
Full official legal text
36. Right of private defence against act of a person of unsound mind, etc.--When an act, which
would otherwise be a certain offence, is not that offence, by reason of the youth, the want of maturity of
understanding, the unsoundness of mind or the intoxication of the person doing that act, or by reason of
any misconception on the part of that person, every person has the same right of private defence against
that act which he would have if the act were that offence.
Illustration s.
(a) Z, a person of unsound mind, attempts to kill A; Z is guilty of no offence. But A has the same
right of private defence which he would have if Z were sane.
(b) A enters by night a house which he is legally entitled to enter. Z, in good faith, taking A for a
house-breaker, attacks A. Here Z, by attacking A under this misconception, commits no offence. But A
has the same right of private defence against Z, which he would have if Z were not acting under that
misconception.