IPC · Chapter XVII · Of offences against property

IPC section 399 in the BNS

IPC 399BNS 310(4)

IPC section 399, “Making preparation to commit dacoity”, is now BNS section 310(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 399 to BNS 310

The words are the same as in the IPC, apart from “Sanhita” for the Act’s own name and the new numbers of the sections it refers to. It now sits in BNS 310 with IPC 391, 395, 396, 400, 402.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 399 Making preparation to commit dacoity

Whoever makes any preparation for committing dacoity, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 310 Dacoity

The part that carries IPC 399 is marked.

(1) When five or more persons conjointly commit or attempt to commit a robbery, or where the whole number of persons conjointly committing or attempting to commit a robbery, and persons present and aiding such commission or attempt, amount to five or more, every person so committing, attempting or aiding, is said to commit dacoity.

(2) Whoever commits dacoity shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

(3) If any one of five or more persons, who are conjointly committing dacoity, commits murder in so committing dacoity, every one of those persons shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

(4) Whoever makes any preparation for committing dacoity, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

(5) Whoever is one of five or more persons assembled for the purpose of committing dacoity, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.

(6) Whoever belongs to a gang of persons associated for the purpose of habitually committing dacoity, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with rigorous imprisonment 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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.

Also in BNS 310

Other IPC sections that went to the same place

IPC 391 Dacoity → BNS 310(1)
IPC 395 Punishment for dacoity → BNS 310(2)
IPC 396 Dacoity with murder → BNS 310(3)
IPC 400 Punishment for belonging to gang of dacoits → BNS 310(6)
IPC 402 Assembling for purpose of committing dacoity → BNS 310(5)

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.