22 days left — Registration closes 2026-10-31.

IPC · Chapter XVIII · Of offences relating to documents and to property marks

IPC section 481 in the BNS

IPC 481BNS 345(2)

IPC section 481, “Using a false property mark”, is now BNS section 345(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 481 to BNS 345

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 345 with IPC 479, 482.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 481 Using a false property mark

Whoever marks any movable property or goods or any case, package or other receptacle containing movable property or goods, or uses any case, package or other receptacle having any mark thereon, in a manner reasonably calculated to cause it to be believed that the property or goods so marked, or any property or goods contained in any such receptacle so marked, belong to a person to whom they do not belong, is said to use a false property mark.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 345 Property mark

The part that carries IPC 481 is marked.

(1) A mark used for denoting that movable property belongs to a particular person is called a property mark.

(2) Whoever marks any movable property or goods or any case, package or other receptacle containing movable property or goods, or uses any case, package or other receptacle having any mark thereon, in a manner reasonably calculated to cause it to be believed that the property or goods so marked, or any property or goods contained in any such receptacle so marked, belong to a person to whom they do not belong, is said to use a false property mark.

(3) Whoever uses any false property mark shall, unless he proves that he acted without intent to defraud, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, 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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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 345

Other IPC sections that went to the same place

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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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

Prepare with CLATcoach, free

A free account gives you a full mock, a past paper for every exam, the daily questions, twelve Legal GK headings and a report on where you stand.

Create a free account