Section 18: Accident in doing a lawful act

Earlier law: IPC section 80 (Accident in doing a lawful act)

In plain words

Harm caused purely by accident is not an offence, if the person was doing a lawful act in a lawful way, by lawful means, with proper care and caution, and had no criminal intention or knowledge.

Example: A worker's hatchet head flies off and kills a bystander. If the worker was taking proper care, this is not an offence.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Read the in-depth explanation, with key Supreme Court rulings ↓

Official text

Nothing is an offence which is done by accident or misfortune, and without any criminal intention or knowledge in the doing of a lawful act in a lawful manner by lawful means and with proper care and caution.

Illustration

A is at work with a hatchet; the head flies off and kills a man who is standing by. Here, if there was no want of proper caution on the part of A, his act is excusable and not an offence.

Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 25 August 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Understanding this section

Section 18 carries forward section 80 of the IPC: harm caused by accident or misfortune, without criminal intention or knowledge, while doing a lawful act in a lawful manner, by lawful means and with proper care and caution, is not an offence.

Key points

All conditions must be met; most claims fail on lawful manner or proper care.
A deliberate act done in a fight is not an accident just because the result was unwanted.
Where the plea fails, the court considers culpable homicide (section 105) or death by negligence (section 106).

Key Supreme Court rulings

Sukhdev Singh v. Delhi State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) 2003 INSC 440

Decided under section 80 of the IPC. Firing a pistol during a scuffle was not an accident; the conviction was altered to culpable homicide not amounting to murder on other grounds.

Common mistakes

Confusing this complete defence with the negligence offence in section 106.

Read with: Section 106 BNS, Section 80 IPC

Prepared with AI assistance as a study aid. Every ruling listed was checked against the Supreme Court's own judgments on this site, and quoted words appear in those judgments; linked names open the full judgment. Read the judgments themselves before relying on them. Not legal advice.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 18

No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.