Section 79
The text of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 is not held here: India Code has no complete official copy of it. The section that replaced it is below.
Source: IndiaCode Portal, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. Check against the official text before relying on it.
Replaced by
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Section 17. Act done by a person justified, or by mistake of fact believing himself justified, by law.
Nothing is an offence which is done by any person who is justified by law, or who by reason of a mistake of fact and not by reason of a mistake of law in good faith, believes himself to be justified by law, in doing it.
Illustration
A sees Z commit what appears to A to be a murder. A, in the exercise, to the best of his judgment exerted in good faith, of the power which the law gives to all persons of apprehending murderers in the fact, seizes Z, in order to bring Z before the proper authorities. A has committed no offence, though it may turn out that Z was acting in self-defence.
Pair from: BPR&D correspondence tables (bprd.mha.gov.in; A. K. Yadav, CAPT Bhopal)