Article 20 — Protection in Respect of Conviction for Offences

(1) No person shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of a law in force at the time of the commission of the act charged as an offence, nor be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offence.

(2) No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.

(3) No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

These three protections are drawn from well-established common law principles and the US Constitution (Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments). The self-incrimination clause has been tested repeatedly: in Kathi Kalu Oghad (1961), the Supreme Court narrowed its scope, holding that it applies only to testimonial compulsion — not to compelled provision of handwriting samples, fingerprints, or blood. The ex post facto protection bars retrospective criminal liability but not retrospective tax law, which is governed by Article 265.

• Article 21
• Article 22

Last reviewed: 1 July 2026