SECTION 216 IPC - Indian Penal Code - Harbouring offender who has escaped from custody or whose apprehension has been ordered

Whenever any person convicted of or charged with an offence, being in lawful custody for that offence, escapes from such custody, or whenever a public servant, in the exercise of the lawful powers of such public servant, orders a certain person to be apprehended for an offence, whoever, knowing of such escape or order for apprehension, harbours or conceals that person with the intention of preventing him from being apprehended, shall be punished in the manner following, that is to say:

if a capital offence — if the offence for which the person was in custody or is ordered to be apprehended is punishable with death, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine;

if punishable with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment — if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for ten years, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, with or without fine;
and if the offence is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to one year and not to ten years, he shall be punished with imprisonment of the description provided for the offence for a term which may extend to one-fourth part of the longest term of the imprisonment provided for such offence or with fine, or with both.

“Offence” in this section includes also any act or omission of which a person is alleged to have been guilty out of India, which, if he had been guilty of it in India, would have been punishable as an offence, and for which he is, under any law relating to extradition, or otherwise liable to be apprehended or detained in custody in India, and every such act or omission shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be punishable as if the accused person had been guilty of it in India.

IPC 216 in Simple Words

In simple words, Section 216 of the Indian Penal Code states that if someone helps a person, who is in custody for a serious offense or ordered to be apprehended, to escape or hides them with the intention of preventing their arrest, they can face different punishments based on the severity of the offense, ranging from up to seven years of imprisonment and fine for capital offenses to up to three years of imprisonment with or without fine for offenses punishable with life imprisonment or ten years, and one-fourth part of the longest term of imprisonment provided for less serious offenses or fine, or both. This section also includes acts or omissions committed outside India that would be punishable as offenses in India, and the punishment will be as if the accused person committed those acts or omissions in India.