Definition
Serious bodily injury of a specific character including fracture, permanent disfigurement, or danger to life.
Eight specific categories of serious hurt defined by statute — including permanent incapacity, fracture of bone, permanent disfigurement, and hurt endangering life.
Statutory Definition
BNS 2023, Section 116 (formerly IPC Section 320).
Etymology & Origin
From Old French 'grevous' (burdensome, grievous — from 'grever', to burden, oppress — Latin 'gravare', to weigh down) and Old French 'hurter' (to strike). 'Grievous hurt' is a 'burdensome' or 'heavy' injury — one that creates a serious, long-lasting burden on the victim's health and life. The word 'grave' carries the same meaning — a weighty, serious injury.
Full Legal Analysis
Grievous hurt is the aggravated category of bodily injury in Indian criminal law. Section 116 of the BNS, 2023 (formerly Section 320 IPC) provides an exhaustive list of injuries that constitute grievous hurt — only the eight categories in the section are 'grievous hurt'; any injury not falling within these eight categories, however serious it may appear in practice, is 'simple hurt' and punished under Section 115 BNS. The eight categories are: (1) Emasculation; (2) Permanent privation of the sight of either eye; (3) Permanent privation of the hearing of either ear; (4) Privation of any member or joint; (5) Destruction or permanent impairing of the powers of any member or joint; (6) Permanent disfiguration of the head or face; (7) Fracture or dislocation of a bone or tooth; and (8) Any hurt that endangers life or which causes the sufferer to be, during the space of twenty days, in severe bodily pain, or unable to follow their ordinary pursuits.
The eighth category is the broadest — it covers: (a) hurt that endangers life (where death was risked, even if the patient survives); and (b) hurt that keeps the victim in severe bodily pain or incapacitated for 20 days. The 20-day rule is important in practice — if a victim is incapacitated for 20 days or more by an injury (even if it is not on the other seven listed injuries), the injury is grievous hurt.
The Supreme Court emphasised that the eight categories of grievous hurt in Section 320 IPC (Section 116 BNS) are exhaustive — not illustrative. If an injury does not fall within one of the eight listed categories, it cannot be classified as grievous hurt, however serious it may appear. The Court also held that where a dangerous weapon is used and the accused intended to cause grievous hurt but the victim escaped with simple hurt, the appropriate charge is the attempt provision or the hurt provision — not grievous hurt, since the actual injury caused must be assessed. Medico-legal examination (MLC) reports are the primary evidence of whether an injury falls in the grievous hurt category.
Causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapons: voluntarily causing grievous hurt by means of an instrument for shooting, stabbing, or cutting, or by means of fire or corrosive substance, or by means of any poisonous substance, carries enhanced punishment under BNS (corresponding to Section 326 IPC). Acid attack cases — throwing acid on a person causing permanent disfigurement — are a specific sub-category of grievous hurt by dangerous substance, with enhanced punishment and mandatory compensation.
Medico-legal certificate (MLC): the MLC issued by the examining doctor is the primary piece of evidence determining whether an injury is simple or grievous hurt. Advocates must scrutinise the MLC carefully — the doctor's opinion on fracture, dislocation, severity, duration of incapacity, and whether the injury endangered life determines which section applies and the consequent punishment range.
For advocates, grievous hurt cases involve: (1) scrutinising the MLC report for the injury classification; (2) arguing the 20-day rule where the victim's incapacity does not fall neatly into the first seven categories; (3) where acid attacks are charged — the enhanced compensation provisions; and (4) sentencing — voluntary grievous hurt by dangerous weapons carries up to 10 years imprisonment (corresponding to IPC 326), contrasted with simple grievous hurt at 7 years.
This Term in Indian Statutes
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, 2023
"The following kinds of hurt only are designated as 'grievous':— First.— Emasculation; Secondly.— Permanent privation of the sight of either eye; Thirdly.— Permanent privation of the hearing of either ear; Fourthly.— Privation of any member or joint; Fifthly.— Destruction or permanent impairing of the powers of any member or joint; Sixthly.— Permanent disfiguration of the head or face; Seventhly.— Fracture or dislocation of a bone or tooth; Eighthly.— Any hurt which endangers life or which causes the sufferer to be, during the space of twenty days, in severe bodily pain, or unable to follow his ordinary pursuits."
Hari Kishan: eight categories exhaustive not illustrative; actual injury (not weapon) determines category; MLC report is primary evidence; acid attack — enhanced compensation; 20-day rule for Category 8
