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IPC · Chapter XII · Of offences relating to coin and Government stamps

IPC section 254 in the BNS

IPC 254BNS 179

IPC section 254, “Delivery of coin as genuine which, when first possessed, the deliverer did not know to be altered”, is now BNS section 179 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 254 to BNS 179

No separate offence in the BNS. Passing on an altered coin as genuine is covered by BNS section 179 (using as genuine a coin known or believed to be counterfeit), punishable with imprisonment for life or up to ten years and fine. The IPC’s lighter punishment for someone who learned of the alteration only after receiving the coin has no counterpart.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 254 Delivery of coin as genuine which, when first possessed, the deliverer did not know to be altered

Whoever delivers to any other person as genuine or as a coin of a different description from what it is, or attempts to induce any person to receive as genuine, or as a different coin from what it is, any coin in respect of which he knows that any such operation as that mentioned in sections 246, 247, 248 or 249 has been performed, but in respect of which he did not, at the time when he took it into his possession, know that such operation had been performed, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine to an amount which may extend to ten times the value of the coin for which the altered coin is passed, or attempted to be passed.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 179 Using as genuine, forged or counterfeit coin, Government stamp, currency-notes or bank- notes

Whoever imports or exports, or sells or delivers to, or buys or receives from, any other person, or otherwise traffics or uses as genuine, any forged or counterfeit coin, stamp, currency-note or bank-note, knowing or having reason to believe the same to be forged or counterfeit, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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

Sources

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