IPC 166, 168-171 vs BNS 198, 202-205: Public Servant Offences (2026)

In India, Sections 198 and 202 to 205 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) replaced Sections 166 and 168 to 171 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) on 1 July 2024. Personating a public servant now carries six months to three years plus fine; trading gains community service; the garb fine rises to ₹5,000.

At a glance

IPC	BNS	Offence	Punishment (BNS text)	Classification (BNSS First Schedule)	Change
166	198	Public servant knowingly disobeying a direction of law, intending or knowing it likely to cause injury	Simple imprisonment up to 1 year, or fine, or both	Non-cognizable; bailable; Magistrate of the first class	Minor edit
168	202	Public servant legally bound not to trade, engaging in trade	Simple imprisonment up to 1 year, or fine, or both, or community service	Non-cognizable; bailable; Magistrate of the first class	Modified (community service added)
169	203	Public servant legally bound not to purchase or bid for certain property, purchasing or bidding for it	Simple imprisonment up to 2 years, or fine, or both; property, if purchased, confiscated	Non-cognizable; bailable; Magistrate of the first class	Identical
170	204	Pretending to hold, or personating a holder of, a public office and acting under colour of it	Imprisonment of either description, 6 months to 3 years, and fine	Cognizable; non-bailable; any Magistrate	Modified (minimum added, maximum 2 → 3 years, fine mandatory)
171	205	Wearing the garb or carrying the token of a class of public servants, with intent or knowledge that one will be believed to belong to it	Up to 3 months, or fine up to ₹5,000, or both	Cognizable; bailable; any Magistrate	Modified (₹200 → ₹5,000)

The CrPC First Schedule gave the IPC sections the same classifications: Sections 166, 168 and 169 non-cognizable, bailable and triable by a Magistrate of the first class; Section 170 cognizable, non-bailable and triable by any Magistrate; Section 171 cognizable, bailable and triable by any Magistrate.

Neighbours covered elsewhere: Sections 166A and 166B IPC are now Sections 199 and 200 BNS — see the separate page. Section 167 IPC (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury) is Section 201 BNS, word for word, with the same punishment (up to three years, or fine, or both).

What changed

Modified — Section 204 BNS (IPC 170): "imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both" becomes "imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to three years and with fine". Three changes in one clause: a minimum term, a higher maximum, and fine that is cumulative rather than alternative. The definition of the offence is word for word the same.
Modified — Section 202 BNS (IPC 168): "or with fine, or with both" becomes "or with fine, or with both or with community service". Community service is one of the punishments listed in Section 4(f) BNS; the Explanation to Section 23 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) defines it as unpaid work the Court may order a convict to perform "as a form of punishment that benefits the community".
Modified — Section 205 BNS (IPC 171): the fine rises from "two hundred rupees" to "five thousand rupees". The three-month maximum is unchanged.
Minor edit — Section 198 BNS (IPC 166): "knowing it to be likely that he will, by such disobedience" loses the comma after "will", and the Illustration reads "a decree pronounced in Z's favour by a Court" for "by a Court of Justice".
Identical — Section 203 BNS (IPC 169): same words, including the confiscation of the property "if purchased".
Classification: unchanged for all five sections. None is compoundable under Section 359 BNSS, as none was under Section 320 CrPC.

Statutory text (relevant extract)

Extract, Section 170 IPC (repealed from 1 July 2024), punishment clause:

… shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

Extract, Section 204 BNS:

Whoever pretends to hold any particular office as a public servant, knowing that he does not hold such office or falsely personates any other person holding such office, and in such assumed character does or attempts to do any act under colour of such office, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to three years and with fine.

Extract, Section 202 BNS:

Whoever, being a public servant, and being legally bound as such public servant not to engage in trade, engages in trade, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both or with community service.

How it works — the ingredients

Section 198 — public servant disobeying law. (1) The accused is a public servant (defined in Section 2(28) BNS); (2) there is a direction of the law as to the way he is to conduct himself as such; (3) he knowingly disobeys it; (4) intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will cause, injury to any person. Illustration: an officer directed by law to take property in execution to satisfy a decree in Z's favour, who knowingly disobeys that direction knowing it is likely to injure Z, commits the offence.

Section 202 — unlawful trade. (1) A public servant; (2) legally bound, as such, not to engage in trade; (3) who engages in trade. The prohibition must bind the person "as such public servant"; the section itself does not create it.

Section 203 — unlawful purchase or bid. (1) A public servant; (2) legally bound, as such, not to purchase or bid for certain property; (3) who purchases or bids for it, in his own name or another's, or jointly or in shares with others. Property purchased is confiscated in addition to the punishment.

Section 204 — personating a public servant. Two alternative first limbs: (a) pretending to hold a particular office as a public servant, knowing he does not hold it; or (b) falsely personating another person who holds such an office. Both require a second limb: in that assumed character, doing or attempting to do an act "under colour of such office". A bare claim to be an official, with no act or attempt under colour of the office, does not meet the second limb on the text.

Section 205 — garb or token. (1) The accused does not belong to a certain class of public servants; (2) he wears a garb, or carries a token, resembling one used by that class; (3) with the intention that it may be believed, or the knowledge that it is likely to be believed, that he belongs to that class. No act under colour of office is needed — that is the line between Sections 205 and 204. Section 168 BNS is the separate offence for the garb or token of a soldier, sailor or airman (up to three months, or fine up to ₹2,000, or both).

What this means in practice

For the investigating officer and prosecutor

For a fake official — a person posing as a police, tax or enforcement officer — check both Section 204 and Section 205. Section 204 needs an act or attempt under colour of the office; Section 205 needs only the garb or token with the stated intent or knowledge. Where money or property is obtained, cheating by personation under the BNS may also be engaged.
Sections 198, 202 and 203 are non-cognizable, so police need a Magistrate's order to investigate (Section 174(2) BNSS). Identify the law, rule or regulation that binds the public servant; Sections 202 and 203 depend on it (see the judgments below).
Where the accused is a public servant acting or purporting to act in the discharge of official duty, and is not removable save by or with the sanction of the Government, Section 218(1) BNSS bars cognizance without previous sanction, subject to its terms.

For the accused and defence advocate

Section 204 is non-bailable and now carries a minimum of six months. On a reading of the text, once convicted, the court cannot impose less than six months' imprisonment, and must also impose a fine.
Section 479(1) BNSS (release on bail after detention "for a period extending up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment", or on bond after one-third for a first-time offender) applies to Section 204 because it specifies neither death nor life imprisonment; on a reading, one-half of the three-year maximum is eighteen months.
For Sections 202 and 203, the first question is whether a legal prohibition exists — an enacted law, or a rule or regulation framed under one. R. S. Bharathi (below) holds that a non-statutory code of conduct does not supply the prohibition in Section 169 IPC; Kanwarjit Singh Kakkar (below) holds that a doctor's conduct contrary only to government instructions, without criminal activity, is not an offence under Section 168 IPC and may be dealt with as misconduct under the service rules.

On sentence

Section 202 permits community service as the sole punishment. Sections 23(2) and 23(3) BNSS allow a Magistrate of the first class and of the second class to pass a sentence of community service.

Judgments that still matter

R. S. Bharathi v. J. Jayalalitha & Ors., [2003] Supp. 6 S.C.R. 85 (2003 INSC 668) — 24 November 2003. The case arose from the purchase of land belonging to a State public sector undertaking by a firm in which the then Chief Minister was a partner. She was charged, among other offences, under Section 169 IPC, on the footing that the Tamil Nadu Code of Conduct for Ministers told Ministers to refrain from buying immovable property from the Government. The trial court acquitted her of that charge and the High Court affirmed. S. Rajendra Babu and P. Venkatarama Reddi JJ. (judgment by Rajendra Babu J.) held that "there should be a law which prohibits a public servant from purchasing certain property and if he does it, it becomes an offence under Section 169 IPC"; that "law" means an enacted law, or a rule or regulation framed under it, not an executive order; and that the Code of Conduct, having no statutory force, did not impose a legal prohibition. The Court dismissed the appeals and the special leave petition, "subject to the observations made above". The report shows no paragraph numbers. Section 203 BNS repeats Section 169 IPC word for word.

Kanwarjit Singh Kakkar v. State of Punjab & Anr., [2011] 6 S.C.R. 895 (2011 INSC 339) — 28 April 2011. Two Punjab Government doctors were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 168 IPC for seeing patients privately at home for a fee. Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra JJ. held that "the treatment of patients by a doctor cannot by itself be held to be engagement in a trade", while noting that Section 168 could be made out where a doctor engages in trading activities beyond professional duty (para 16). Conduct contrary only to government instructions, without criminal activity, was a matter for the service rules. The Court set aside the High Court's orders and quashed the FIR (para 17). Section 202 BNS repeats the words construed.

No Supreme Court judgment on Section 170 or 171 IPC, or on any of Sections 198 and 202 to 205 BNS, was verified for this page.

Which law applies to your case

Section 358(2) BNS keeps alive any penalty or punishment incurred under the IPC and allows proceedings to be instituted, continued or enforced "as if that Code had not been repealed"; on a reading of that provision, conduct before 1 July 2024 is charged under Sections 166 and 168 to 171 IPC. Investigations and trials pending on that date continue under the CrPC (Section 531(2)(a) BNSS). Article 20(1) of the Constitution bars a penalty greater than the law in force at the time of the offence, so, on a reading of that Article, the six-month minimum and three-year maximum in Section 204 and the ₹5,000 fine in Section 205 cannot be applied to earlier conduct. See which law applies to an offence before 1 July 2024.

Frequently asked questions

What is the BNS equivalent of Section 170 IPC? Section 204 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 replaces Section 170 IPC (personating a public servant). The offence is defined in the same words, but the punishment is now imprisonment of either description for not less than six months and up to three years, and fine. Section 170 IPC allowed imprisonment up to two years, or fine, or both, with no minimum.

Is personating a public servant bailable under the BNSS? No. The First Schedule to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 lists Section 204 BNS as cognizable, non-bailable and triable by any Magistrate, the same classification the CrPC First Schedule gave Section 170 IPC. Wearing a public servant's garb or carrying a token with fraudulent intent (Section 205 BNS) is cognizable, bailable and triable by any Magistrate.

What changed for a public servant who engages in trade? Section 202 BNS repeats Section 168 IPC and adds community service as a punishment: simple imprisonment up to one year, or fine, or both, or community service. The offence still requires that the public servant is legally bound as such not to engage in trade. The BNSS First Schedule keeps it non-cognizable, bailable and triable by a Magistrate of the first class.

Is a government doctor's private practice an offence under Section 202 BNS? In Kanwarjit Singh Kakkar v. State of Punjab ([2011] 6 S.C.R. 895), the Supreme Court held that treating patients is not by itself engaging in trade under Section 168 IPC, which Section 202 BNS repeats. A breach of government instructions on private practice was held to be a matter for the service rules, and the FIR was quashed (paras 16, 17).

Can a Code of Conduct for Ministers create the prohibition under Section 203 BNS? Section 203 BNS applies only to a public servant who is 'legally bound' not to purchase or bid for certain property. In R. S. Bharathi v. J. Jayalalitha ([2003] Supp. 6 S.C.R. 85), the Supreme Court held under the identical Section 169 IPC that the prohibition must come from an enacted law or a rule or regulation framed under it, and that a non-statutory Code of Conduct for Ministers did not create one.

What is the fine for wearing a police uniform to pass as an officer? Under Section 205 BNS, a person not belonging to a class of public servants who wears its garb or carries its token, intending it to be believed, or knowing it is likely to be believed, that he belongs to that class, faces imprisonment up to three months, or fine up to five thousand rupees, or both. Section 171 IPC capped the fine at two hundred rupees. If the person also acts under colour of the office, Section 204 BNS may apply.

Which law applies to an offence under Sections 166 to 171 IPC committed before 1 July 2024? Section 358(2) BNS saves any penalty incurred under the IPC and lets proceedings continue as if it had not been repealed, so, on a reading of that text, conduct before 1 July 2024 is charged under the IPC section. Article 20(1) of the Constitution bars a penalty greater than the law in force at the time, so, on a reading of that Article, the six-month minimum and three-year maximum in Section 204 BNS and the higher fine in Section 205 BNS cannot be imposed for earlier conduct.

Sources

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Gazette text): Sections 2(28), 4, 168, 198 to 205, and 358.
Indian Penal Code, 1860 (India Code text): Sections 166 to 171.
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Gazette text): Sections 23, 174, 218, 359, 479 and 531, and the First Schedule entries for Sections 198 to 205 BNS.
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: Section 320 and the First Schedule entries for Sections 161 to 171 IPC.
Constitution of India: Article 20(1).
Judgments read in full text: R. S. Bharathi v. J. Jayalalitha (S_2003_6_85_128_EN.md); Kanwarjit Singh Kakkar v. State of Punjab (2011_6_895_912_EN.md).

This page explains the statutory text and the judgments cited as they stand. It is not legal advice; for a specific case, consult an advocate.

Sections 166, 168–171 IPC vs Sections 198, 202–205 BNS — Public Servant Disobeying Law, Unlawful Trade and Purchase, and Personating a Public Servant