IPC · Chapter XVII · Of offences against property

IPC section 419 in the BNS

IPC 419BNS 319(2)

IPC section 419, “Punishment for cheating by personation”, is now BNS section 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 419 to BNS 319

Now sub-section (2) of BNS section 319. The maximum imprisonment for cheating by personation rises from three years to five years.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 419 Punishment for cheating by personation

Whoever cheats by personation shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 319 Cheating by personation

The part that carries IPC 419 is marked.

(1) A person is said to cheat by personation if he cheats by pretending to be some other person, or by knowingly substituting one person for or another, or representing that he or any other person is a person other than he or such other person really is.

Explanation.—The offence is committed whether the individual personated is a real or imaginary person.

Illustrations.

(a) A cheats by pretending to be a certain rich banker of the same name. A cheats by personation.

(b) A cheats by pretending to be B, a person who is deceased. A cheats by personation.

(2) Whoever cheats by personation shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, 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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.

Also in BNS 319

Other IPC sections that went to the same place

IPC 416 Cheating by personation → BNS 319(1)

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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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