SECTION 6 IPC : “Throughout this code, every definition of an offence, every penal provision, and every illustration of any such definition or penal provision shall be understood subject to the exceptions contained in the Chapter entitled “General Exceptions,” even though those exceptions are not repeated in such definition, penal provision, or illustration.
Additionally, the Code offers a few examples that aid in understanding IPC 6’s application. These examples include the following:
- The sections of this code that define offenses do not expressly state that a child under the age of seven cannot commit those offenses, but rather they must be interpreted subject to the general exception that says nothing committed by a child under the age of seven qualifies as an offense.
- Without a warrant, A, a police officer, arrests Z, who has committed murder. Since A was required by law to apprehend Z, he is not guilty of the crime of wrongful detention in this instance. As a result, the case comes under the general exception that states “nothing is an offence which is done by a person who is required by law to do it.”
Every definition that specifies the purpose, nature, or range of an offense, every provision that seeks to hold a person accountable for wrongdoing they have committed, and every example-based definition of an offense are all stated in the explanation of section 6 of the Indian Penal Code and are to be interpreted as exceptions as described in the chapter “General Exceptions.”