Section 7 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) grants the Court the authority to determine whether a sentence of imprisonment should be wholly or partly rigorous (with hard labor) or simple (without hard labor).
Key Provisions:
Types of Imprisonment
Rigorous Imprisonment - The offender is required to perform hard labor during imprisonment.
Simple Imprisonment - The offender is not required to perform any labor and serves time in custody.
Court’s Authority
If a person is sentenced to imprisonment of either description, the Court has the discretion to:
Make the entire imprisonment rigorous.
Make the entire imprisonment simple.
Divide the imprisonment into rigorous and simple parts, based on the severity of the offense.
How It Protects:
Ensures that punishment is proportional to the severity of the crime.
Provides judicial flexibility in deciding the nature of imprisonment.
Helps in differentiating between violent and non-violent offenders.
Example:
A person convicted of assault causing serious harm may be sentenced to rigorous imprisonment.
A person convicted of defamation may be given simple imprisonment.
A person convicted of fraud may serve part of the sentence as rigorous and part as simple imprisonment.
