IPC · Chapter I · Introduction

IPC section 1 in the BNS

IPC 1BNS 1(1)

IPC section 1, “Title and extent of operation of the Code”, is now BNS section 1(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 1 to BNS 1

The short title moves to BNS section 1(1). The IPC’s statement that the Code extends to the whole of India is not repeated; instead the BNS adds a commencement clause (section 1(2)) letting the Central Government appoint the date it comes into force.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 1 Title and extent of operation of the Code

This Act shall be called the Indian Penal Code, and shall extend to the whole of India.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 1 Short title, commencement and application

The part that carries IPC 1 is marked.

(1) This Act may be called the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Sanhita.

(3) Every person shall be liable to punishment under this Sanhita and not otherwise for every act or omission contrary to the provisions thereof, of which he shall be guilty within India.

(4) Any person liable, by any law for the time being in force in India, to be tried for an offence committed beyond India shall be dealt with according to the provisions of this Sanhita for any act committed beyond India in the same manner as if such act had been committed within India.

(5) The provisions of this Sanhita shall also apply to any offence committed by—

(a) any citizen of India in any place without and beyond India;

(b) any person on any ship or aircraft registered in India wherever it may be;

Explanation.—In this section, the word “offence” includes every act committed outside India which, if committed in India, would be punishable under this Sanhita.

Illustration. A, who is a citizen of India, commits a murder in any place without and beyond India. He can be tried and convicted of murder in any place in India in which he may be found.

(6) Nothing in this Sanhita shall affect the provisions of any Act for punishing mutiny and desertion of officers, soldiers, sailors or airmen in the service of the Government of India or the provisions of any special or local law.

The texts are India Code’s. The amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown. The PDFs linked below carry the full history.

Also in BNS 1

Other IPC sections that went to the same place

IPC 2 Punishment of offences committed within India → BNS 1(3)
IPC 3 Punishment of offences committed beyond, but which by law may be tried within, India → BNS 1(4)
IPC 4 Extension of Code to extra-territorial offences → BNS 1(5)
IPC 5 Certain laws not to be affected by this Act → BNS 1(6)

Old law or new?

Which one applies to a case

The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)). The repeal does not reach back: under section 358(2), penalties and punishments incurred for offences committed against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed. An act done before 1 July 2024 is therefore dealt with under the IPC section; an act done on or after that date, under the BNS.