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

IPC section 140 in the BNS

IPC 140BNS 168

IPC section 140, “Wearing garb or carrying token used by soldier, sailor or airman”, is now BNS section 168 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 140 to BNS 168

Now BNS section 168. “Military” becomes “Army”, and the maximum fine rises from ₹500 to ₹2,000.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 140 Wearing garb or carrying token used by soldier, sailor or airman

Whoever, not being a soldier, sailor or airman in the Military, Naval or Air service of the Government of India, wears any garb or carries any token resembling any garb or token used by such a soldier, sailor or airman with the intention that it may be believed that he is such a soldier, sailor or airman, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 168 Wearing garb or carrying token used by soldier, sailor or airman

Whoever, not being a soldier, sailor or airman in the Army, Naval or Air service of the Government of India, wears any garb or carries any token resembling any garb or token used by such a soldier, sailor or airman with the intention that it may be believed that he is such a soldier, sailor or airman, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.