SECTION 2.

Punishment of offences committed within India.Every person shall be liable to

punishment under this Code and not otherwise for every act or omission
contrary to the provisions thereof, of which he shall be guilty within *[Indial
INTRA TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION

Section 2 of the Indian Penal Code provides the intra-territorial jurisdiction of the
Indian criminal courts . According to the section 2 of the Indian Penal Code every
person shall be liable to punishment by the IPC and not otherwise for every act or
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omission contrary to the provisions thereof , of which , he shall be guilty within India .

(1) Territorial jurisdiction.Section 2 of the Penal Code deals with the

intraterritorial operation of the Code. It refers to offences committed within
India and declares that every person shall be liable to punishment under the
Code for every act or omission contrary to the provisions of the Code of which he
shall be guilty within the territory of India. The section asserts the principle of
criminal liability on the basis of the locality and place of the offence committed.
It is a well-recognised concept of criminal jurisprudence that the exercise of
criminal jurisdiction depends upon the locality of the offence committed, and not
upon the nationality or locality of the offender.3 Thus, to invoke the provisions of
the Code it must be established that the offence for which the accused is charged
was committed within the territory of India. The territory of India for the
purposes of application of its laws would comprise not only its land, its internal
waters, such as rivers, lakes and canals, but also that portion of sea lying along
and washing its coast, which is commonly called its maritime territory. The
territorial waters of India extend into the sea to a distance of twelve maritime
miles from the appropriate base line.1
The territory of a State also includes its ships, aircrafts, whether armed or
unarmed, and the private ships of its subjects on the high seas or in foreign tidal
waters, and foreign private ships while within its ports. Likewise, on the
principle of cujus est solum ejus usque ad collum et ad infero (whoever is the
owner of the soil, it is his even to the firmament, and to the centre of the earth).
The column of air resting on the territory of the State is included within the
territory of the country2

The terms Every Person include all persons without limitations and irrespective of
nationality , allegiance , rank , status , caste , colour and creed .Thus for instance , if a
German or a Frenchman commits adultery in India , he will be liable under the Indian
Penal Code and he can not plead that adultery is not an offence in his country .
A company , according to the legal interpretation , a person , and so a company would
be included within the terms . But a company can not be prosecuted for the offence

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which can be committed only by individual ,e.g. murder , perjury , etc. or for the
offences which are compulsorily punishable with imprisonment .
According to the maritime territory , a state includes land plus the portion of the sea
washing its coast upto twelve nautical miles into the sea . The Government of India ,
vide notification dated 30-9-1967 , declared that its maritime territory extends upto
twelve nautical miles into the sea measured from the base line . So an offence
committed within the limits of such territory should be an offence triable by the Indian
Criminal courts according to the provisions of IPC.
But criminal courts have no jurisdiction to try a few privileged classes of persons who
are not liable to be punished for any crime under the IPC . They are -----)The President and the Governor of a State .
2) Foreign Soverigns .
3) Ambassadors .
4) Allien Enemies .
5) Foreign Army and
6) Warships .