Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 · Chapter XVIII: Of Offences Relating to Documents and to Property Marks
Section 337: Forgery of record of Court or of public register, etc
In plain words
Forging a court record or proceeding, a government identity document such as a voter ID card or Aadhaar Card, a register of births, marriages or burials, a public servant's register or official certificate, an authority to bring or defend a suit, or a power of attorney, is punishable with up to seven years in prison and a fine.
- "Register" includes electronic lists, data and records.
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
Whoever forges a document or an electronic record, purporting to be a record or proceeding of or in a Court or an identity document issued by Government including voter identity card or Aadhaar Card, or a register of birth, marriage or burial, or a register kept by a public servant as such, or a certificate or document purporting to be made by a public servant in his official capacity, or an authority to institute or defend a suit, or to take any proceedings therein, or to confess judgment, or a power of attorney, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "register" includes any list, data or record of any entries maintained in the electronic form as defined in clause (r) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000).
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 25 August 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 337
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.