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

IPC section 489D in the BNS

IPC 489DBNS 181

IPC section 489D, “Making or possessing instruments or materials for forging or counterfeiting currency notes or bank-notes”, is now BNS section 181 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.

What changed

From IPC 489D to BNS 181

Merged into BNS section 181, which also covers mending such instruments and any die. 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 489D Making or possessing instruments or materials for forging or counterfeiting currency notes or bank-notes

Whoever makes, or performs any part of the process of making, or buys or sells or disposes of, or has in his possession, any machinery, instrument or material for the purpose of being used, or knowing or having reason to believe that it is intended to be used, for forging or counterfeiting any currency-note or bank-note, 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 181 Making or possessing instruments or materials for forging or counterfeiting coin, Government stamp, currency-notes or bank-notes

Whoever makes or mends, or performs any part of the process of making or mending, or buys or sells or disposes of, or has in his possession, any machinery, die, or instrument or material for the purpose of being used, or knowing or having reason to believe that it is intended to be used, for forging or counterfeiting any coin, stamp issued by Government for the purpose of revenue, currency-note or bank-note, 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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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.

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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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

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