Under Section 198 BNS, if a public servant knowingly disobeys any direction of law intending to cause injury, the maximum punishment prescribed is:

under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 This answer is based on Section 198 of the BNS (which corresponds to Section 166 of the old IPC). 1. The Statutory Provision (Section 198 BNS) The section is titled "Public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person". It states: "Whoever, being a public servant, knowingly disobeys any direction of the law as to the way in which he is to conduct himself as such public servant, intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will, by such disobedience, cause injury to any person..." 2. The Punishment The section prescribes the punishment as: "...shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year , or with fine , or with both ." ¹² 3. Comparison with similar offences (for clarity):³⁴ It is easy to confuse this with Section 199 (Old IPC 166A). Here is t⁵he disti⁶nction: