BNS Section 340: Forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine (formerly IPC 470 and IPC 471)
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 · in force from 1 July 2024
BNS 340: Forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine
From 1 July 2024
(1) A false document or electronic record made wholly or in part by forgery is designated a forged document or electronic record.
(2) Whoever fraudulently or dishonestly uses as genuine any document or electronic record which he knows or has reason to believe to be a forged document or electronic record, shall be punished in the same manner as if he had forged such document or electronic record.
What it replaced in the IPC
BNS 340(1) ← IPC 470 · Forged documentChanged
BPR&D's comparison records a change. Read what changed before relying on the old wording.
What changed, per BPR&D: IPC section is included as a sub-section in BNS. “using it as genuine” is added in the heading.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
A false [document or electronic record] made wholly or in part by forgery is designated “a forged [document or electronic record]”.
BNS 340(2) ← IPC 471 · Using as genuine a forged document or electronic recordDrafting change only
BPR&D's comparison records a change of drafting only, so the substance is the same.
What changed, per BPR&D: IPC section is included as a sub-section in BNS sans heading.
Printed in both official correspondence tables (BPR&D and NCRB).
Whoever fraudulently or dishonestly uses as genuine any [document or electronic record] which he knows or has reason to believe to be a forged [document or electronic record], shall be punished in the same manner as if he had forged such [document or electronic record].
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 470
They remain the law on IPC 470. 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 35.
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: bare Act with Corresponding Section Table, National Crime Records Bureau (Sankalan), page 69.
- 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.