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

IPC section 489B in the BNS

IPC 489BBNS 179

IPC section 489B, “Using as genuine, forged or counterfeit currency-notes or bank-notes”, is now BNS section 179 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 489B to BNS 179

Merged into BNS section 179, which also covers importing, exporting and delivering forged or counterfeit notes, coin and stamps. Same punishment: imprisonment for life or up to ten years, and fine.

The official text

Old and new, side by side

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 489B Using as genuine, forged or counterfeit currency-notes or bank-notes

Whoever sells to, or buys or receives from, any other person, or otherwise traffics in or uses as genuine, any forged or counterfeit 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.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 179 Using as genuine, forged or counterfeit coin, Government stamp, currency-notes or bank- notes

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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.

Also in BNS 179

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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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