Mumbai: The state government has made community service the official alternative punishment for minor offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. On November 28, the state home department notified rules mandating the duration, nature and place of such punitive community service, paving the way for implementation.
Titled the Maharashtra (Community Service as Punishment for Certain Offences) Rules, 2025, the notification says that the duration of community service shall not be less than one day and more than 31 days, limited to eight hours a day.
“The duration of community service shall ordinarily be, not less than one day and not more than 31 days; or not less than 40 hours and not more than 240 hours, as the court may determine depending on the facts of the case,” the notification says.
Courts awarding community service to the accused must specify the nature of such service, its place, duration and the supervising officer, the notification states.
The notification also specifies community services that qualify as punishment – such as cleaning or maintaining wards and peripherals or managing the casualty or operation theatre in government hospitals; arranging or listing books and other clerical assistance or binding at government-run libraries; and cleaning of classrooms, libraries, laboratories, grounds and peripherals.
Other forms of community service mentioned in the notification include cleaning and maintenance work alongside municipal cleaning staff; removal of weeds from roadsides; cleaning or maintenance of public buildings; traffic regulation, crowd regulation, cleaning and maintenance of police station premises and common areas; cleaning and maintenance of public parks, beaches, spaces; cleaning and maintenance of old age homes, mental health institutes and hostels; tree planting, watering, and maintenance work.
{{/usCountry}}Other forms of community service mentioned in the notification include cleaning and maintenance work alongside municipal cleaning staff; removal of weeds from roadsides; cleaning or maintenance of public buildings; traffic regulation, crowd regulation, cleaning and maintenance of police station premises and common areas; cleaning and maintenance of public parks, beaches, spaces; cleaning and maintenance of old age homes, mental health institutes and hostels; tree planting, watering, and maintenance work.
{{/usCountry}}Community service is a form of punishment that requires offenders to perform unpaid work for the benefit of the community as part of their sentence. It was introduced as a form of punishment for the first time under the BNS, representing a shift towards restorative justice. Under the BNS, community service is mandated as punishment for public servants found unlawfully engaging in trade under section 202; non-appearance in response to a proclamation under section 209; committing suicide to compel or restrain exercise of lawful power under section 226; cases of theft where the value of the stolen property is less than ₹5,000 and the accused is convicted for the first time under section 303(2); misconduct in public by a drunken person under section 355; and defamation under section 356(2), among others.
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