BNS Section 231: Giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of offence punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment (formerly IPC 195)
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 · in force from 1 July 2024
BNS 231: Giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of offence punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment
From 1 July 2024
Whoever gives or fabricates false evidence intending thereby to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby cause, any person to be convicted of an offence which by the law for the time being in force in India is not capital, but punishable with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for a term of seven years or upwards, shall be punished as a person convicted of that offence would be liable to be punished.
Illustration.
A gives false evidence before a Court, intending thereby to cause Z to be convicted of a dacoity. The punishment of dacoity is imprisonment for life, or rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, with or without fine. A, therefore, is liable to imprisonment for life or imprisonment, with or without fine.
What it replaced in the IPC
BNS 231 ← IPC 195 · Giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of offence punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonmentNo change
BPR&D's comparison records no change in the text, only a new number.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
Whoever gives or fabricates false evidence intending thereby to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby cause, any person to be convicted of an offence which [by the law for the time being in force in [India]] is not capital, but punishable with [imprisonment for life], or imprisonment for a term of seven years or upwards, shall be punished as a person convicted of that offence would be liable to be punished.
Illustration A gives false evidence before a Court of Justice, intending thereby to cause Z to be convicted of a dacoity. The punishment of dacoity is [imprisonment for life], or rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, with or without fine.
A, therefore, is liable to [imprisonment for life] or imprisonment, with or without fine.
Which one applies
An offence is governed by the law in force when it was committed. An offence committed before 1 July 2024 is charged and punished under the IPC; one committed on or after that date, under the BNS. Section 358 of the BNS, which repeals the IPC, preserves every liability and proceeding already incurred under it.
Read BNS section 358 →Judgments decided under IPC 195
They remain the law on IPC 195. Where the provision changed in the move, read what changed before relying on one for an offence after 1 July 2024.
Sources
- Correspondence Table and Comparison Summary of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 to the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Bureau of Police Research & Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, page 25.
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: bare Act with Corresponding Section Table, National Crime Records Bureau (Sankalan), page 53.
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860), as amended, India Code, Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.
BPR&D is the Bureau of Police Research & Development (Ministry of Home Affairs); NCRB the National Crime Records Bureau. Their correspondence tables are training aids, not law. This page is general information, not legal advice on any case; the bare Acts as published by the Government of India are the authority.