IPC to BNS: how to find the new section number for an old IPC section
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita replaced the IPC on 1 July 2024. What changed, which law applies to which case, and how to look up the matching section quickly.
For over 160 years, Indian criminal law was cited by familiar numbers: 302, 420, 498A, 376. Since 1 July 2024 the numbers have changed. The Indian Penal Code has been replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and the people who use these sections every day, including advocates, clerks, police, students and journalists, now have to translate between two systems. This guide explains what changed and how to find the matching section quickly.
General information only. This is not legal advice. Section numbers and wording should always be checked against the official text of the Act (Gazette or India Code) before you rely on them in a pleading, notice or order.
What was replaced
Three major laws were replaced and came into force on 1 July 2024:
| Old law | New law |
|---|---|
| Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) | Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) |
| Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) | Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) |
| Indian Evidence Act, 1872 | Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) |
The IPC had 511 sections. The BNS has 358. Sections were renumbered, combined, reworded or dropped, and some new offences were added, including organised crime, terrorism, mob lynching and snatching. Sedition (the old section 124A) is no longer an offence under that name, and a new offence concerning acts that endanger the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India was added.
Which law applies to which case?
In broad terms, the date of the offence decides the penal law. The Constitution does not allow someone to be punished under a law that was not in force when the act was done. So:
- An offence committed before 1 July 2024 is dealt with under the IPC, even if the case is registered or decided later.
- An offence committed on or after 1 July 2024 falls under the BNS.
- For procedure, the BNSS has transitional provisions. Cases that were already pending on that date generally continue under the old procedure, while new proceedings follow the BNSS.
Because of this, practitioners will keep needing both numbering systems for years, which is why a quick converter matters. The exact transitional position in a particular case can be technical, so confirm with the relevant provision or a senior colleague.
Some familiar sections
These are widely cited correspondences. They are examples to show how the numbers moved, not a substitute for checking the text.
| Subject | IPC | BNS |
|---|---|---|
| Murder (punishment) | 302 | 103 |
| Attempt to murder | 307 | 109 |
| Theft (punishment) | 379 | 303 |
| Cheating | 420 | 318 |
| Criminal breach of trust | 406 | 316 |
| Cruelty by husband or relatives | 498A | 85 |
| Dowry death | 304B | 80 |
| Voluntarily causing hurt | 323 | 115 |
| Common intention | 34 | 3(5) |
| Criminal conspiracy | 120B | 61 |
Notice that the one-to-one pattern breaks down quickly. Some IPC sections were split across several BNS sections, some BNS sections gather several old ones, and a few have no counterpart.
How to look up a section
- Open the IPC to BNS converter and section search.
- Type an IPC section number to find its BNS equivalent, or a BNS number to find the old one. You can also search by words in the section title, such as “cheating” or “hurt”.
- Read the details and compare them with the official text before using them in a document.
Using the new sections in court documents
For routine drafting, it helps to keep to a pattern. When you cite a section in an order, notice or complaint, state the Act by name every time (for example, “Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023”), since a bare number now means different things in the two systems. For offences from before July 2024, cite the IPC section, and where useful, add the BNS equivalent in brackets.
If you draft order sheets and notices, the order sheet generator and the legal document generator save time on the repetitive parts, so you can concentrate on the sections and facts of the case.
Tips for avoiding mistakes
- Do not assume that the same number means the same thing. 302 is murder in the IPC and something else entirely in the BNS.
- Watch sub-sections. Many BNS sections are cited with sub-section numbers, such as 318(4) for the punishment for cheating.
- Check punishments as well as definitions. Penalties were changed for some offences.
- When in doubt, read the bare Act. Commentaries and conversion tables, including ours, are aids.