mistake of fact

Under the BNS nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, by reason of a mistake of fact and not of law, in good faith believes himself to be bound by law, or justified by law, in doing it. The mistake must be of fact, it must be honest, and good faith requires due care and attention.

The exception rests on the maxim ignorantia facti excusat, while ignorantia juris non excusat denies any excuse for a mistake of law. A soldier who fires on a mob on the order of his superior, as the law requires, is protected; one who acts on a belief that his own reading of the law is correct is not.

Example

An officer who arrests Z believing in good faith that Z is the person named in the warrant is protected by mistake of fact.

In Indian law

• Sections 14 and 17, BNS (old ss.76 and 79 IPC)

See also

general exceptions · ignorantia facti excusat · ignorantia juris non excusat · mens rea

Read more in the study notes

• Crime: meaning, elements and stages (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
• General exceptions: mistake, accident, necessity and incapacity (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
• Free consent: coercion and undue influence (Contract I)
• Mistake (Contract I)
• Questions of law, fact and discretion (Jurisprudence)
• Mens rea: intention, motive, malice, negligence and recklessness (Jurisprudence)