General Provisions

• Unlike the IPC, which lacked a dedicated definition clause, the BNS consolidates interpretation clauses into Section 2.
• The definition of “section” (IPC Section 50) has been omitted in BNS, as it is now a widely used term in various legislations.
• Most IPC interpretation clauses (Sections 8-52A) have been retained in BNS without changes and are grouped alphabetically in Section 2 for ease of reference.
• A key difference is that BNS definitions are subject to the context of a provision, whereas IPC interpretation clauses (except for definitions in Sections 9, 32, and 46) were not.

Specific Definitions

• Child: A new definition of “child” has been introduced in BNS Section 2(3).
• Transgender: The BNS recognizes “transgender” as a gender identity in addition to “male” and “female” (Section 2(10)), whereas the IPC only acknowledged “male” and “female” genders (Section 8).