● Modified in BNS
Forgery -- making a false document or electronic record with intent to cause damage, support a false claim, or commit fraud -- carries up to 2 years' imprisonment, or fine, or both under BNS Section 336(2), unchanged from IPC 465. The BNS definition now expressly covers false electronic records, not just physical documents.
Sections 463-464 IPC defined forgery as making a false document with intent to cause damage or injury, support a claim, cause a person to part with property, enter a contract, or commit fraud. Section 465 punished forgery with imprisonment of either description up to 2 years, or fine, or both.
BNS Section 336(1) reproduces the forgery definition but expressly extends it to a "false electronic record" alongside a false document. Section 336(2) reproduces the Section 465 punishment entirely unchanged.
Punishment unchanged. The substantive change is upstream: forgery now expressly covers false electronic records, not just physical documents, bringing digital forgery within the section's own wording.
Imprisonment of either description up to 2 years, or fine, or both..
IPC 465 is bailable..
This is a non-cognizable. offence.
Non-compoundable..
Matters under IPC 465 are tried before the Magistrate of the First Class..
Common defences include absence of dishonest or fraudulent intent, the document being genuine or made with authority, and the accused not being the person who actually made the false document.
Summaries are for general information and are not legal advice. For the authoritative bare-act text, see the official Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Indian Penal Code, 1860 (full amended text, as it stood before repeal) on India Code, or the Ministry of Home Affairs' new criminal laws page. ← All comparisons