Library · Part H: Laws & the Language of Law

Famous Numbers of Law

40 entries. The first 5 are free to read; all 40 are yours with Plus.

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420

The cheat

Section 420 of the IPC punished cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property. "Char sau bees" (four-twenty) became everyday slang for a fraudster, immortalised in Raj Kapoor's film Shree 420 (1955). The offence is now in BNS Section 318.

Film: Shree 420 (1955).
Now BNS Section 318.

Quick check: Why is a cheat called a "420" in India?

It was the police code for fraud
Section 420 IPC punished cheating
A 1920 law on swindling
Article 420 dealt with fraud

Answer: B.

302

Murder

Section 302 of the IPC prescribed the punishment for murder — death or imprisonment for life — and "302" became shorthand for murder in films and conversation. It is now BNS Section 103.

144

Prohibitory orders

Section 144 of the CrPC allowed magistrates to issue urgent orders in cases of nuisance or apprehended danger, commonly used to ban gatherings of four or more people. "Section 144 imposed" was a familiar headline. The power is now in Section 163 of the BNSS.

Now BNSS Section 163.

Quick check: The power once found in Section 144 CrPC is now in which section of the BNSS?

Section 163
Section 187
Section 144
Section 173

Answer: A.

498A

Cruelty to a wife

Section 498A, inserted into the IPC in 1983, punished cruelty by a husband or his relatives, including dowry harassment. It is among the most litigated sections in India and was the subject of Arnesh Kumar (2014) on automatic arrests. It is now BNS Sections 85 and 86.

Inserted in 1983.

377

Read down in 2018

Section 377 of the IPC, dating from 1860, criminalised "carnal intercourse against the order of nature". It was read down in Navtej Singh Johar (2018) to exclude consensual acts between adults, and it has no equivalent in the BNS.