IPC · Chapter VII · Of offences relating to the Army, Navy and Air Force

IPC section 137 in the BNS

IPC 137BNS 165

IPC section 137, “Deserter concealed on board merchant vessel through negligence of master”, is now BNS section 165 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 137 to BNS 165

Now BNS section 165. The maximum fine rises from ₹500 to ₹3,000.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 137 Deserter concealed on board merchant vessel through negligence of master

The master or person in charge of a merchant vessel, on board of which any deserter from the Army, Navy or Air Force of the Government of India is concealed, shall, though ignorant of such concealment, be liable to a penalty not exceeding five hundred rupees, if he might have known of such concealment but for some neglect of his duty as such master or person in charge, or but for some want of discipline on board of the vessel.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 165 Deserter concealed on board merchant vessel through negligence of master

The master or person in charge of a merchant vessel, on board of which any deserter from the Army, Navy or Air Force of the Government of India is concealed, shall, though ignorant of such concealment, be liable to a penalty not exceeding three thousand rupees, if he might have known of such concealment but for some neglect of his duty as such master or person in charge, or but for some want of discipline on board of the vessel.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.

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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.