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Which sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 incorporate the principle “ignorantia facti…

Both sections 14 and 17 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (formerly sections 76 and 79 IPC) distinguish mistake of fact from mistake of law. Section 14 protects a person…

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Which sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 incorporate the principle “ignorantia facti excusat, ignorantia juris non excusat” (mistake of fact may excuse; ignorance of law does not)?

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Correct answer B

Both sections 14 and 17 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (formerly sections 76 and 79 IPC) distinguish mistake of fact from mistake of law. Section 14 protects a person actually bound by law, or in good faith believing through a factual mistake that they are bound; section 17 similarly covers actual or good-faith believed legal justification. A mistake does not automatically excuse every act: the particular legal duty/justification and good-faith conditions must be satisfied. Sections 15–16 concern judicial acts/orders, and 22–23 unsoundness of mind and specified intoxication.

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