IPC · Chapter XII · Of offences relating to coin and Government stamps
IPC section 260, “Using as genuine a Government stamp known to be counterfeit”, is now BNS section 179 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.
Merged into BNS section 179 (trafficking in or using as genuine forged or counterfeit coin, stamps or notes). The punishment is heavier: imprisonment for life or up to ten years, and fine (IPC 260: up to seven years, or fine, or both).
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Whoever uses as genuine any stamp, knowing it to be a counterfeit of any stamp issued by Government for the purpose of revenue, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.
The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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.
