Public servant
A person falling within the descriptions in Section 2(28) of the BNS, such as Judges, officers of the Government and Courts, and persons in the pay of the Government or a Government company.
Explained
The BNS does not give an abstract definition. Section 2(28) lists descriptions, and a person who falls within any of them is a public servant. The list covers commissioned officers of the armed forces, every Judge and every person empowered to discharge adjudicatory functions, officers of a Court including liquidators, receivers and commissioners, arbitrators to whom a matter is referred by a Court or competent public authority, persons empowered to confine others, Government officers with duties to prevent offences or protect public health and safety, officers dealing with Government property or revenue, persons conducting elections, and every person in the service or pay of the Government, a local authority, a statutory corporation or a Government company. This replaced Section 21 of the IPC, earlier in force.
The Explanation adds two rules. Persons within the descriptions are public servants whether appointed by the Government or not, and a person in actual possession of the situation of a public servant is one whatever legal defect there may be in his right to hold it. The illustration to the clause gives a Municipal Commissioner as an example.
Other statutes use their own definitions. Section 2(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is wider and includes any person who holds an office by virtue of which he is authorised or required to perform any public duty. In P.V. Narasimha Rao v. State (1998) the Supreme Court held that Members of Parliament are public servants under that Act; its separate holding on legislative immunity was overruled in Sita Soren v. Union of India (2024).
The status matters for offences that only a public servant can commit or that are committed against one, and for procedure. Section 218 of the BNSS bars a Court from taking cognizance, without previous sanction, of an offence alleged against a public servant not removable from office save by or with the sanction of the Government, where the act was done while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of official duty. Examiners test the listed categories, the de facto holder rule and the scope of sanction.
What the law says
(28) “public servant” means a person falling under any of the descriptions, namely:—
(a) every commissioned officer in the Army, Navy or Air Force;
(b) every Judge including any person empowered by law to discharge, whether by himself or as a member of any body of persons, any adjudicatory functions;
(c) every officer of a Court including a liquidator, receiver or commissioner whose duty it is, as such officer, to investigate or report on any matter of law or fact, or to make, authenticate, or keep any document, or to take charge or dispose of any property, or to execute any judicial process, or to administer any oath, or to interpret, or to preserve order in the Court, and every person specially authorised by a Court to perform any of such duties;
(d) every assessor or member of a panchayat assisting a Court or public servant;
(e) every arbitrator or other person to whom any cause or matter has been referred for decision or report by any Court, or by any other competent public authority;
Clause (28) defines public servant with an Explanation and illustration
Earlier law: IPC 33. “Act”. “Omission”; 47. “Animal”.; New Sub-Section; 28. “Counterfeit”.; 20. “Court of Justice”.; 46. “Death”.; 24. “Dishonestly”.; 29. “Document”.; 25. “Fraudulently”; 8. Gender.; 52. “Good faith”; 17. “Government”.; 52A. “Harbour“.; 44. “Injury”.; 43. “Illegal”. “Legally bound to do”.; 19. “Judge”.; 45. “Life”.; 42. “Local law”.; 10. “Man”. “Woman”.; 49. “Year”. “Month”.; 22. “Movable property”; 9. Number.; 51. “Oath”.; 40. “Offence”.; 33. “Act”. “Omission”; 11. “Person”.; 12. “Public”.; 21. “Public servant”.; 26. “Reason to believe”
(c) “public servant” means—
(i) any person in the service or pay of the Government or remunerated by the Government by fees or commission for the performance of any public duty;
(ii) any person in the service or pay of a local authority;
(iii) any person in the service or pay of a corporation established by or under a Central, Provincial or State Act, or an authority or a body owned or controlled or aided by the Government or a Government company as defined in section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);
(iv) any Judge, including any person empowered by law to discharge, whether by himself or as a member of any body of persons, any adjudicatory functions;
(v) any person authorised by a court of justice to perform any duty, in connection with the administration of justice, including a liquidator, receiver or commissioner appointed by such court;
Clause (c) gives the wider definition for corruption offences
(1) When any person who is or was a Judge or Magistrate or a public servant not removable from his office save by or with the sanction of the Government is accused of any offence alleged to have been committed by him while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty, no Court shall take cognizance of such offence except with the previous sanction save as otherwise provided in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 (1 of 2014)—
(a) in the case of a person who is employed or, as the case may be, was at the time of commission of the alleged offence employed, in connection with the affairs of the Union, of the Central Government;
(b) in the case of a person who is employed or, as the case may be, was at the time of commission of the alleged offence employed, in connection with the affairs of a State, of the State Government:
Previous sanction needed to prosecute certain public servants
Earlier law: CRPC 197. Prosecution of Judges and public servants.
Earlier law: Section 21, IPC
Example
Illustration to Section 2(28) of the BNS: a Municipal Commissioner is a public servant.
For the exam
- BNS Section 2(28) lists the categories; earlier Section 21 IPC.
- A person in actual possession of the office is a public servant despite a legal defect in his title.
- Persons in the pay of a statutory corporation or a Government company are covered.
- PC Act Section 2(c) is wider; MPs are public servants under it (P.V. Narasimha Rao, 1998).
- Sanction under Section 218 BNSS applies to acts done while acting or purporting to act in official duty.
674 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this term. Practise Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita questions
Judgments
Related terms
- Public officerA person falling within the eight descriptions in Section 2(17) of the CPC, such as every Judge, members of an All-India Service and officers in the service or pay of the Government.
- Government companyA company in which not less than fifty-one per cent of the paid-up share capital is held by the Central Government, one or more State Governments, or both, including a subsidiary of such a company.
- OffenceAn act or omission made punishable by law. The BNS core meaning is a thing made punishable by the Sanhita; the BNSS meaning covers any law in force.
- Good faithUnder Section 2(11) of the BNS, nothing is done or believed in good faith if it is done or believed without due care and attention. Civil laws accept honesty alone.
Further reading
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.