VoxJuris
Home › Acts › IPC › Chapter XVIII › Section 477

Indian Penal Code, 1860 · Chapter XVIII: Of Offences Relating to Documents and to Property Marks

Section 477: Fraudulent cancellation, destruction, etc., of will, authority to adopt, or valuable security

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024. It still applies to matters and proceedings from before that date, as the repealing law provides.

Now in the BNS section 343 (Fraudulent cancellation, destruction, etc., of will, authority to adopt, or valuable security)

In plain words

Fraudulently, dishonestly, or to cause damage, cancelling, destroying, defacing or hiding (or attempting to) a will, an authority to adopt a son, or a valuable security, or committing mischief to it, is punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment of either description for up to seven years, and a fine.

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 fraudulently or dishonestly, or with intent to cause damage or injury to the public or to any person, cancels, destroys or defaces, or attempts to cancel, destroy or deface, or secretes or attempts to secrete any document which is or purports to be a will, or an authority to adopt a son, or any valuable security, or commits mischief in respect of such document, shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.

Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. 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.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 477