IPC or BNS: which criminal code applies to your case

The date that decides it is the date of the offence

On 1 July 2024 the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

The repeal did not move existing cases across. An offence is charged under the law that was in force when it was committed, so conduct before 1 July 2024 is still prosecuted under the IPC — which is most of what is currently before the courts. Being told your matter is "an IPC case" in 2026 is not out of date.

The practical consequence: if you are searching for the section you were charged under, start from the date on the FIR, not from today.

The section number almost always changes

The BNS renumbered nearly everything. Murder moved from IPC 302 to BNS 103(1). Cheating that induces delivery of property moved from IPC 420 to BNS 318(4). Cruelty by a husband or his relatives moved from IPC 498A to BNS 85. Causing death by negligence moved from IPC 304A to BNS 106(1), and the maximum sentence rose from two years to five.

The sub-section matters and is not decoration. BNS 103 and BNS 318 each gather several offences with different maximum sentences under one heading. "Charged under BNS 318" does not say whether that is the three-year limb or the seven-year one, and no charge sheet writes it that way.

Do not assume a number carried over. IPC 302 and BNS 302 are both real provisions and they are not the same offence.

One provision is on the statute book and has never been in force

BNS 106(2) — causing death by rash and negligent driving and then escaping without reporting it — was excluded from the notification that commenced the rest of the Sanhita on 1 July 2024, and no commencement has been notified since.

Nobody can be charged under it. A hit-and-run death is currently prosecuted under BNS 106(1). A provision that has been enacted but not commenced looks identical to one in force in most published copies of the Act, which is why this is worth checking rather than assuming.

Procedure is the leg where the courts have not settled the rule

Section 531(2)(a) of the BNSS saves five things pending on 1 July 2024 — an appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation — to the CrPC, "as if this Sanhita had not come into force". The list is closed: unlike Section 170(2) of the BSA, it does not include the residual word "proceeding".

What "pending" reaches is genuinely unsettled. High Courts have divided on whether a bail application filed after the cut-over runs under the BNSS when the investigation runs under the CrPC, and on which code an appeal lies under. This platform does not assert an answer on that question, because there is not one yet. It is a question for your advocate, who will know how the court hearing your matter has been deciding it.

Provisions cited

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, s. 103(1)

Punishment for murder. In force 1 July 2024; successor to IPC s. 302.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, s. 318(4)

Cheating inducing delivery of property. In force 1 July 2024; successor to IPC s. 420.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, s. 85

Cruelty by husband or his relatives. In force 1 July 2024; successor to IPC s. 498A.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, s. 106(1) and s. 106(2)

106(1) in force 1 July 2024, successor to IPC s. 304A. 106(2) is not in force.

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Repealed 1 July 2024. Still governs offences committed before that date.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, s. 531(2)(a)

Saves proceedings pending on 1 July 2024 to the CrPC.

Last checked on 13 Aug 2026.