Why in News? The Jharkhand High Court on Monday issued a notice to a publishing company for a printing error in the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, thereby altering the nature and meaning of the law.

In the Bare Acts published by Universal LexisNexis, the word ‘similar’ is missing, leading to a significant error in the interpretation of the law, the judges observed.

A division bench comprising Justices Ananda Sen and Subhash Chand took suo motu cognisance of the issue, noting a printing mistake in Section 103 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) published by M/s Universal LexisNexis.

The court pointed out that Section 103 (2) of the BNS pertains to punishment for murder.

According to the Gazette Notification: “When a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief, or any other similar ground each member of such group shall be published with death or with imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.”

However, in the Bare Acts published by Universal LexisNexis, the word “similar” is missing, leading to a significant error in the interpretation of the law, the judges observed.

Definition of Section 103 BNS:

(1) Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.

(2) When a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other similar ground each member of such group shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.