VoxJuris
Home › Acts › IPC › Chapter XIV › Section 273

Indian Penal Code, 1860 · Chapter XIV: Of Offences Affecting the Public Health, Safety, Convenience, Decency and Morals

Section 273: Sale of noxious food or drink

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024. It still applies to offences and proceedings from before that date.

Now in the BNS section 275 (Sale of noxious food or drink)

In plain words

Selling, offering or displaying for sale food or drink that is harmful or unfit, knowing or having reason to believe it is harmful, is punishable with imprisonment of either description for up to six months, or a fine of up to one thousand rupees, or both.

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.

Official text

Whoever sells, or offers or exposes for sale, as food or drink, any article which has been rendered or has become noxious, or is in a state unfit for food or drink, knowing or having reason to believe that the same is noxious as food or drink, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.

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 (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. 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.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 273