Section 95: Prohibition of harboring offender

1) No person shall knowingly harbor an offender with intent to prevent him or her from being apprehended or save him or her from a lawful sentence.

Explanation: For the purposes of this Section, the term “offender” means a person who is suspected or accused of an offence or convicted by a court of such offence.

2) A person who commits, or causes to be committed, the offence referred to in sub-section (1) shall be liable to the sentence as follows:

(a) Sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years and a fine not exceeding fifty thousand rupees where that person has harbored the offender of an offence punishable by imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years,

(b) Sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years and a fine not exceeding thirty thousand rupees where that person has harbored the offender of an offence punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years,

(c) Sentence of imprisonment or fine not exceeding one fourth of the maximum term of imprisonment or amount of fine or both the sentences imposable for the offence where that person has harbored the offender of the offence other than that mentioned in clause (a) or (b).

3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), no offence referred to in this Section shall be considered to have been committed where the offender’s husband or wife or father, mother, son, daughter, elder brother, younger brother, elder sister, younger sister, grand-father, grand-mother, grand-son, grand-daughter, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law or son-in-law has harbored the offender.