🎯 About this course

This course treats every sub-section, explanation, exception and illustration as its own unit with a plain explanation, practice and a test. You follow a student at a legal-aid clinic through seventeen scenes covering the general rules, offences against the person, property offences, documents, threats and defamation, and public order, then step back to see who applies the law and where the official text lives. It is built for study; it is not legal advice.

By the end you will be able to

Explain the reach of the Sanhita and use its own definitions and rules of reading.
Apply the punishment provisions, the general exceptions and the rule on conspiracy to a set of facts.
Identify the offence against the person that a set of facts shows, and the facts that grade it.
Compare theft, extortion, robbery, dacoity, breach of trust, cheating and mischief by their ingredients.
Analyse forgery, intimidation, public mischief and defamation, including the exceptions to defamation.
Describe the offences of public order, elections, currency and false evidence, and the effect of the savings clause.
Explain who does what in a criminal case, how a case travels and how the class of an offence decides arrest, bail and court.
Evaluate the reliability of a source of law and check the current text and date of a section.

Curriculum

Topics covered

Reading the Sanhita 4 topics

Scene 1: What the Sanhita covers and who it reaches
Short title, commencement and application and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the…
Scene 2: The dictionary of the Sanhita
BNS 2 (Definitions) taken apart clause by clause, with its explanations, exceptions and illustrations.
Scene 3: Punishment, fines and stacking offences
Punishments and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 4: Defences and agreements to commit crime
Act done in good faith for benefit of a person without consent and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by…

Offences against the person 5 topics

Scene 5: Killing and attempts: homicide, murder, negligence
Culpable homicide and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 6: Hurt and grievous hurt
Voluntarily causing hurt and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 7: Liberty: restraint, confinement, kidnapping and trafficking
Wrongful restraint and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 8: Offences against women and children
Punishment for rape and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 9: Organised crime and terrorism
Organised crime and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.

Offences against property 3 topics

Scene 10: Theft and its relatives: snatching, extortion, robbery, dacoity
Theft and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 11: Breach of trust, stolen property, cheating
Criminal breach of trust and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 12: Mischief, trespass and house-breaking
Mischief and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.

Documents, threats and reputation 2 topics

Scene 13: Forgery, false documents and marks
Forgery and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 14: Threats, public mischief and defamation
Criminal intimidation and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.

Public order, elections and justice 3 topics

Scene 15: Crowds and public order
Unlawful assembly and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 16: Elections, currency and stamps
Bribery and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common mistakes.
Scene 17: False evidence, obscenity, lotteries and the last section
Punishment for false evidence and related sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita: what each says, how to take it apart sub-section by sub-section, and the common…

Infrastructure: the justice system behind the Sanhita 4 topics

Scene 18: Who does what in a criminal case
A working picture of who does what in a criminal case: the components, their jobs, how they fail, how to size them and what to watch.
Scene 19: How a case travels from complaint to judgment
A working picture of how a case travels from complaint to judgment: the components, their jobs, how they fail, how to size them and what to watch.
Scene 20: Classes of offence and the courts that try them
A working picture of classes of offence and the courts that try them: the components, their jobs, how they fail, how to size them and what to watch.
Scene 21: Where the law lives: official sources and how to read them
A working picture of where the law lives: official sources and how to read them: the components, their jobs, how they fail, how to size them and what to watch.

Course at a glance

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Where the time goes

Longer spokes mean more hours on that module.

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Week by week

Drag the slider, or press play, to walk through the course and see what you will have built by each week.

Week 1 of 10

Wk 1

Reading the Sanhita

Scenes 1 and 2: reach and the dictionary.

Wk 2

Punishment and defences

Scenes 3 and 4.

Wk 3

Killing and hurt

Scenes 5 and 6.

Wk 4

Liberty and women and children

Scenes 7 to 9.

Wk 5

Property I

Scenes 10 and 11.

Wk 6

Property II and documents

Scenes 12 and 13.

Wk 7

Threats, words and crowds

Scenes 14 and 15.

Wk 8

Elections, evidence and the past

Scenes 16 and 17.

Wk 9

The justice system

Scenes 18 to 21.

Wk 10

Capstone

Present the offence map and the client note.

What you'll build

The offence map

A one-page chart that takes eight offences from the Sanhita and, for each, lists its ingredients, the exceptions that apply and the fact that distinguishes it from its nearest look-alike.

The client note

A plain-language note for a client file that identifies the offence, the class of the offence, the court and the likely stages.

Why take this course

Read each section clause by clause
See how explanations, exceptions and illustrations decide a case
Practise with games on every section

You will build

An offence map of eight offences
A client note naming offence, class and court

What you can do afterwards

Identify the offence a set of facts shows
Explain who applies the law and where the text lives

How to take it

💳 Delivery & fees

One course, four ways to attend. Fees are per course, in rupees excluding 18% GST (the GST-inclusive amount is shown too).Fees are per course, in Canadian dollars, before applicable GST/HST.Fees are per course, in US dollars, before any applicable local taxes. Bulk and institutional volume pricing is available.

Bulk and institutional pricing. Volume discounts are available for institutions, campuses, companies and groups enrolling several learners. Ask for a group quote →

Your fee includes our GPU lab infrastructure — no cloud credits to buy. See how we compare, with sources →

Criminal law: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita