IPC · Chapter XVII · Of offences against property

IPC section 421 in the BNS

IPC 421BNS 320

IPC section 421, “Dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property to prevent distribution among creditors”, is now BNS section 320 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 421 to BNS 320

Now BNS section 320, with a minimum: imprisonment of at least six months and up to two years, or fine, or both.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 421 Dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property to prevent distribution among creditors

Whoever dishonestly or fraudulently removes, conceals or delivers to any person, or transfers or causes to be transferred to any person, without adequate consideration, any property, intending thereby to prevent, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby prevent, the distribution of that property according to law among his creditors or the creditors of any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 320 Dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property to prevent distribution among creditors

Whoever dishonestly or fraudulently removes, conceals or delivers to any person, or transfers or causes to be transferred to any person, without adequate consideration, any property, intending thereby to prevent, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby prevent, the distribution of that property according to law among his creditors or the creditors of any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to two 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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.

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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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