Mischief by Fire or Explosive Under the BNS (Section 326): IPC 435 Mapping (2026)

Explainer · BNS · Offences Against Property

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Setting fire to property, or using an explosive to damage it, is a grave form of mischief, and the law has always punished it more heavily than ordinary mischief. Since 1 July 2024 the offence has a new address. The Indian Penal Code has been replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), and mischief by fire or explosive substance is now in Section 326. This explainer sets out what Section 326 says on fire and explosives, which old IPC sections it replaces, the punishment, and whether the offence is cognizable and bailable. Last verified October 2026.

01The problem: ordinary mischief, then fire

Mischief, at its simplest, is causing wrongful loss or damage to property. The law then singles out the more dangerous ways of doing it, and fire and explosives sit near the top of that list, because the damage they cause is hard to control and often threatens life as well as property.

The practical problem today is the number. For generations mischief by fire was Section 435 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and mischief by fire aimed at destroying a building was Section 436. From 1 July 2024 both have been folded into the aggravated-mischief section of the BNS, Section 326, as clauses within it. A charge drawn today must use Section 326, while a search for older authorities still needs Sections 435 and 436.

Mischief by fire or explosive is now part of Section 326 of the BNS, the old IPC 435 and 436. The simple form of mischief sits in Section 324.

02What Section 326 says on fire and explosives

Section 326 of the BNS is titled mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance, and so on, and it lists several aggravated forms of mischief in clauses. Two of them deal with fire and explosives.

• Clause (f): committing mischief by fire or any explosive substance, intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely that one will cause, damage to any property.
• Clause (g): committing mischief by fire or any explosive substance, intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely that one will cause, the destruction of a building that is ordinarily used as a place of worship, or as a human dwelling, or as a place for the custody of property.

The difference between the two is the target. Clause (f) covers damage to property in general. Clause (g) covers the destruction of a building of a protected kind, a place of worship, a home, or a store of property, and it carries a far heavier punishment because of the greater danger to life and the community.

03The old-to-new mapping

The two IPC sections map into two clauses of Section 326.

For the wider picture of how old sections map to new ones, see the IPC to BNS section mapping.

04Punishment and classification

The punishment depends on the clause.

• Clause (f), damage to property: imprisonment of either description for a term that may extend to seven years, and fine.
• Clause (g), destruction of a building of a protected kind: imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term that may extend to ten years, and fine.

On classification, mischief by fire under clause (f) is cognizable, bailable, and triable by a Magistrate of the first class. The graver offence under clause (g), carrying life imprisonment, is treated far more seriously, as a non-bailable offence triable by the Court of Session.

05What changed, and what did not

In substance the offences are much the same as before. The BNS kept the distinction between mischief by fire that damages property and mischief by fire that destroys a protected building, and it kept the sharp difference in punishment between them. The main change is structural: the standalone IPC Sections 435 and 436 have become clauses within the single aggravated-mischief section of the BNS, Section 326.

Because the law is substantially the same, case law decided under Sections 435 and 436 of the IPC still guides how Section 326 is read. For research that means covering both the old and the new numbers.

06Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

Because the fire and explosive offences were renumbered and folded into a single Section 326 in 2024, the research job is to join the old and new authorities, and the tracking job is to keep up with a live prosecution. Claw lets you search more than 30 crore judgments in under five seconds, with Supreme Court decisions from 1950 and High Court decisions from 1990, so you can line up rulings under Section 326 of the BNS next to those under the old Sections 435 and 436 of the IPC, clause (f) and clause (g) alike. It also lets you follow a live arson or mischief-by-fire matter, its orders and hearings, by party or advocate name across 9,102 courts, benches and forums. Create a free Claw account to bridge the old and new fire-offence numbers and track a matter as it moves. For the wider view, see case search across Indian courts.

Claw does not file a case or give legal advice, and it does not use customer case documents to train its AI models.

07Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
• Ministry of Home Affairs (new criminal laws): mha.gov.in
• BNS Section 326 (reference text): devgan.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. Section numbers and punishments change through amendments and notifications, so check the current official text and take advice from counsel before you act.

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