Bigamy, Adultery and Marriage Offences: Sections 493-498 IPC vs the BNS

India's marriage-offences chapter carries over from the IPC to the BNS largely intact — bigamy (Section 82 BNS, formerly Section 494 IPC), fraudulent marriage ceremonies (Section 83 BNS, formerly Section 496 IPC), enticement of a married woman (Section 84 BNS, formerly Section 498 IPC) and cruelty by a husband or his relatives (Section 85 BNS, formerly Section 498A IPC) — but adultery, Section 497 IPC, has been dropped with no replacement anywhere in the BNS, and the former concealment offence (Section 495 IPC) is now a sub-section of the bigamy provision rather than a standalone section.

The situation

A person is affected by, or is considering a complaint about, conduct relating to marriage — a second marriage during a subsisting one, concealment of an earlier marriage, a fraudulent marriage ceremony, a spouse's extramarital relationship, someone enticing away a married woman, or cruelty by a husband or his relatives. They need to know which BNS section now governs the conduct, what changed from the IPC, and — for adultery specifically — whether any criminal provision survives at all.

Old law vs new law at a glance

What the law requires now, step by step

Step 1 — Bigamy: marrying again while a spouse is living

Section 82(1) BNS states:

"Whoever, having a husband or wife living, marries in any case in which such marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the life of such husband or wife, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine."

This text is identical in substance to Section 494 IPC, including the same exception for a marriage already declared void by a competent court, and the same exception for a person whose spouse has been continually absent and unheard-of for seven years, provided the person contracting the new marriage discloses the real facts beforehand.

Step 2 — Bigamy with concealment: now a sub-section, not a separate offence

Where Section 495 IPC was a standalone section punishing the same conduct as Section 494 IPC but with concealment of the earlier marriage from the new spouse, the BNS instead states this as Section 82(2):

"Whoever commits the offence under sub-section (1) having concealed from the person with whom the subsequent marriage is contracted, the fact of the former marriage, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine."

The punishment (up to ten years) and the conduct described are unchanged from Section 495 IPC. What changed is structural: it is now Section 82(2), a sub-section of the bigamy provision, rather than Section 495, a section of its own.

Step 3 — Fraudulent marriage ceremony without a lawful marriage

Section 83 BNS carries forward the text of Section 496 IPC without change — up to seven years' imprisonment and fine for dishonestly or with a fraudulent intention going through the ceremony of being married, knowing that no lawful marriage results. The procedural classification did change: the CrPC First Schedule listed Section 496 IPC as bailable, while the BNSS First Schedule lists Section 83 BNS as non-bailable (both non-cognizable, triable by a Magistrate of the first class).

Step 4 — Adultery: no BNS provision at all

Section 497 IPC made it an offence for whoever had sexual intercourse with a person known or believed to be the wife of another man, without that man's consent or connivance, where the intercourse did not amount to rape — with the wife expressly not punishable as an abettor. A full read of BNS Sections 80 to 90, the block of the BNS covering dowry death, marriage offences and related conduct, contains no provision addressing this conduct, and a search of the entire BNS text for the word "adultery" returns no result. This is not a merger into another section and not a renumbering — it is a straightforward omission, with no substitute provision anywhere in the BNS.

Step 5 — Enticing, taking away or detaining a married woman

Section 84 BNS carries forward Section 498 IPC — taking or enticing away, or concealing or detaining, a woman known or reasonably believed to be another man's wife, with intent that she have illicit intercourse with any person — with the same punishment ceiling of two years, fine, or both. The wording is not identical: Section 498 IPC read "takes or entices away any woman … from that man, or from any person having the care of her on behalf of that man, with intent …", and the words "from that man, or from any person having the care of her on behalf of that man" do not appear in Section 84 BNS.

Step 6 — Cruelty by a husband or his relatives, and how "cruelty" is now defined

Section 85 BNS states:

"Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine."

This is identical to the operative text of Section 498A IPC. But where Section 498A IPC defined "cruelty" in an Explanation forming part of the same section, the BNS separates the definition into Section 86:

"For the purposes of section 85, 'cruelty' means-- (a) any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or (b) harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand."

The defining words are unchanged from the IPC Explanation; only the placement — a numbered section of its own, expressly cross-referenced from Section 85 — is new.

What changed — and what did not

• Identical in substance: Sections 81, 82(1), 83 and 85 BNS reproduce Sections 493, 494, 496 and 498A (operative part) IPC almost word for word, renumbered.
• Reworded: Section 84 BNS carries forward Section 498 IPC but omits the words "from that man, or from any person having the care of her on behalf of that man".
• Merged: Section 495 IPC's standalone offence of bigamy-with-concealment is now Section 82(2) BNS, a sub-section of the bigamy provision rather than a section of its own.
• Modified (structural): the cruelty definition, previously an Explanation inside Section 498A IPC, is now the separate Section 86 BNS.
• Abolished, not merged: Section 497 IPC (adultery) has no counterpart in the BNS — confirmed by reading the surrounding sections and by a full-text search of the Act.
• Unchanged punishment ranges: every carried-forward offence keeps the same maximum imprisonment term and fine structure as its IPC predecessor.
• Classification change: the fraudulent-marriage-ceremony offence is non-bailable under the BNSS First Schedule (Section 83 BNS) where the CrPC First Schedule made Section 496 IPC bailable; the other carried-forward offences keep their CrPC classification.

Which law applies to your case

If the alleged conduct occurred before 1 July 2024, Article 20(1) of the Constitution bars conviction except for violation of a law in force at the time of the act, and bars a penalty greater than that law allowed; Section 358(2) BNS provides that the repeal of the IPC does not affect penalties incurred, or proceedings in respect of them, which may be instituted or continued as if the IPC had not been repealed. This matters most for adultery: because the BNS has no adultery provision at all, any question about conduct predating 1 July 2024 is a transition question. The full analysis is in Which Law Applies to an Offence Before 1 July 2024; this article does not go beyond what that rule states.

Practical checklist

For the person affected:

• Identify which specific conduct is alleged — bigamy, concealment, fraudulent ceremony, enticement or cruelty — since each maps to a different BNS section with its own punishment ceiling.
• If the complaint concerns extramarital conduct rather than a second marriage, note that no BNS provision addresses this as a criminal offence; any civil-law consequences (such as under personal marriage law) are outside the scope of this comparison.
• For a cruelty complaint under Section 85 BNS, note the BNSS First Schedule condition on cognizability: it is cognizable only where information is given to an officer in charge of a police station by the person aggrieved, a relative by blood, marriage or adoption, or (if there is no such relative) a public servant of a class or category notified by the State Government.

For the advocate:

• Confirm whether the concealment element is present before charging under Section 82(2) rather than Section 82(1) BNS — the punishment ceiling differs (ten years versus seven).
• Where a complaint invokes adultery-type facts, check the date of the conduct first: post-1 July 2024 conduct has no BNS provision to charge under at all, and pre-commencement conduct requires the transition analysis above.
• For Section 85 BNS charges, verify the source of the police information against the BNSS First Schedule condition before relying on cognizable-offence procedure.
• Cross-check the BNSS First Schedule classification (cognizable/bailable/triable-by court) against the specific sub-section relied upon — Section 82(1) and 82(2) both carry the Magistrate-first-class trial forum but different punishment ceilings.

Frequently asked questions

Is adultery still a crime in India under the BNS?

No provision in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 deals with adultery. Section 497 IPC, which made it an offence for whoever had sexual intercourse with a person known or believed to be the wife of another man, without that man's consent or connivance, has no counterpart anywhere in the BNS. A search of the BNS's marriage-offences chapter and the full Act confirms no adultery provision exists.

What happened to Section 495 IPC, the offence of concealing a former marriage?

It no longer exists as a separate section. The BNS folds it into Section 82(2), which is now a sub-section of the main bigamy provision (Section 82(1) BNS) rather than a standalone section as Section 495 IPC was.

Is bigamy a cognizable offence under the new law?

No. Under the BNSS First Schedule, bigamy under Section 82(1) BNS is non-cognizable and bailable, triable by a Magistrate of the first class — meaning a police officer cannot arrest without a warrant for this offence alone.

Is cruelty by a husband or his relatives (Section 498A IPC) still an offence, and is it cognizable?

Yes, as Section 85 BNS, carrying the same three-year imprisonment term and fine. Under the BNSS First Schedule, it is cognizable only if information relating to the offence is given to an officer in charge of a police station by the person aggrieved, or by any person related to her by blood, marriage or adoption, or (if there is no such relative) by a public servant of a class or category notified by the State Government. It is non-bailable and triable by a Magistrate of the first class — the same classification the CrPC First Schedule gave Section 498A IPC.

Does the BNS define "cruelty" the same way Section 498A IPC did?

The words are the same, but the structure changed. Section 498A IPC defined cruelty in an Explanation within the same section. The BNS splits this into a separate Section 86, captioned "Cruelty defined," which Section 85 BNS expressly cross-refers to.

Can a person still be prosecuted under Section 497 IPC for an act of adultery committed before 1 July 2024?

This article does not answer that question. The BNS contains no adultery provision; for conduct before 1 July 2024 the statutory starting points are Article 20(1) of the Constitution and Section 358 BNS (repeal and savings). See the dedicated transition guide for the analysis of which law applies to conduct that occurred before the BNS commenced.

Related on Veritect

• Which Law Applies to an Offence Before 1 July 2024
• Section 304B — Dowry Death
• Section 498A — Cruelty
• IPC to BNS: Complete Section Mapping
• Offences Against Women: IPC vs BNS
• Sexual Offences: IPC vs BNS
• Sections 494-495 IPC vs Section 82 BNS — Bigamy
• Section 498 IPC vs Section 84 BNS — Enticing or Taking Away or Detaining with Criminal Intent a Married Woman
• Sections 493 and 496 IPC vs Sections 81 and 83 BNS — Cohabitation by Deceit and Fraudulent Marriage Ceremony

Statutory sources

• Indian Penal Code, 1860 — Sections 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 498A (read from IPC_1860.md)
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — Sections 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87 (read from BNS_2023.md)
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — First Schedule, entries for Sections 81-87 BNS (read from the Gazette text, CG-DL-E-25122023-250884)
• Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — First Schedule, entries for Sections 493-498A IPC (read from CrPC_1973.md)

This guide explains the statutory text of the BNS, BNSS and BSA as enacted. It is not legal advice; for a specific case, consult an advocate.