Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 57 Fractions of terms of punishment
In calculating fractions of terms of punishment, imprisonment for life shall be reckoned as equivalent toimprisonment for twenty years.
IPC · Chapter III · Of punishments
IPC section 57 in the BNS
IPC 57BNS 6
IPC section 57, “Fractions of terms of punishment”, is now BNS section 6 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024.
What changed
From IPC 57 to BNS 6
Now BNS section 6. Imprisonment for life is reckoned as twenty years for calculating fractions of a term, but the BNS adds “unless otherwise provided”.
The official text
Old and new, side by side
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Section 6 Fractions of terms of punishment
In calculating fractions of terms of punishment, imprisonment for life shall be reckoned as equivalent to imprisonment for twenty years unless otherwise provided.
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amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown.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The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)).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against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed.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
- The Indian Penal Code (Act 45 of 1860), India Code (archived copy)
- The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act 45 of 2023), as on 6 October 2025, India Code (archived copy)
- Correspondence Table and Comparison Summary of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) to the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), Bureau of Police Research and Development (Ministry of Home Affairs): where each section went
