Indian Penal Code, 1860 · Chapter III: Of Punishments

Section 65: Limit to imprisonment for non-payment of fine, when imprisonment and fine awardable

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 from 1 July 2024.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

Official text

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 65

• Sukhdev Yadav @ Pehalwan v. State of (NCT of Delhi) & Others
  2025 INSC 96929 July 2025Disposed of

  Whether, an accused/convict who has completed his “life imprisonment for a fixed term” such as twenty years of actual sentence without remission, as in the instant case, is entitled to be released from prison on…

• Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy v. Sushil Ansal and Another
  2017 INSC 1239 February 2017Disposed of
• Mohd. Arif @Ashfaq v. He Registrar, Supreme Court of India & Ors.
  2014 INSC 5902 September 2014Disposed of
• Swamy Shraddananda @ Murali Manohar Mishra v. State of Karnataka
  2008 INSC 85322 July 2008Disposed of
• Ashok Kumar Alias Golu v. Union of India and Ors.
  1991 INSC 14510 July 1991Dismissed
• Chhajulal v. The State of Rajasthan
  1972 INSC 8617 March 1972Partly allowed