IPC 493 & 496 vs BNS 81 & 83: Sham Marriage Offences (2026)

In India, Sections 81 and 83 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) replaced Sections 493 and 496 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) from 1 July 2024. The offence text and punishments are unchanged, but the fraudulent marriage ceremony offence moved from bailable (Section 496 IPC) to non-bailable (Section 83 BNS) under the BNSS First Schedule.

At a glance

IPC	BNS	Offence	Punishment (BNS text)	Classification — CrPC First Schedule (IPC)	Classification — BNSS First Schedule (BNS)	Change
493	81	A man by deceit causing a woman not lawfully married to him to believe she is lawfully married to him, and to cohabit or have sexual intercourse with him in that belief	Imprisonment of either description up to 10 years, and fine	Non-cognizable; non-bailable; Magistrate of the first class	Non-cognizable; non-bailable; Magistrate of the first class	Minor edit (heading)
496	83	Dishonestly or with a fraudulent intention going through the ceremony of being married, knowing that no lawful marriage results	Imprisonment of either description up to 7 years, and fine	Non-cognizable; bailable; Magistrate of the first class	Non-cognizable; non-bailable; Magistrate of the first class	Modified (classification)

Sections 494 and 495 IPC (now Section 82 BNS) have their own page: bigamy — IPC 494-495 vs BNS 82.

What changed

Minor edit — heading of Section 81 BNS (IPC 493): "Cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage" becomes "Cohabitation caused by man deceitfully inducing belief of lawful marriage". The body text is the same, word for word, including "ten years" and liability to fine.
Identical — text of Section 83 BNS (IPC 496): the heading "Marriage ceremony fraudulently gone through without lawful marriage" and the body, including "seven years" and liability to fine, are the same words.
Modified — classification of Section 83 BNS: the CrPC First Schedule row for Section 496 IPC reads "Ditto" in the cognizability, bail and trial-court columns. Traced upward, the bail column's "Ditto" sits under the Section 495 row, which is itself "Ditto" under the Section 494 row marked "Bailable". So Section 496 IPC was bailable. The BNSS First Schedule row for Section 83 BNS reads "Non-bailable." Cognizability and the trial court do not change. The Schedule's punishment column now reads "Imprisonment up to 7 years and fine" (CrPC: "for 7 years"); the section text says "may extend to seven years" in both codes.
Identical — classification of Section 81 BNS: non-cognizable, non-bailable, Magistrate of the first class, in both Schedules.
Minor edit — placement: from IPC Chapter XX, "Of offences relating to marriage", to the sub-heading of that name inside BNS Chapter V, "Of offences against woman and child".
Minor edit and Modified — complaint bar (Section 198 CrPC → Section 219 BNSS): "an offence punishable under Chapter XX of the Indian Penal Code" becomes "an offence punishable under sections 81 to 84 (both inclusive) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023" (minor edit). Proviso (a) (modified) now reads "a child, or is of unsound mind or is having intellectual disability requiring higher support needs" for "under the age of eighteen years, or is an idiot or a lunatic". Full comparison: prosecution restrictions page.

Statutory text (relevant extract)

Extract, Section 81 BNS (the same words as Section 493 IPC):

Every man who by deceit causes any woman who is not lawfully married to him to believe that she is lawfully married to him and to cohabit or have sexual intercourse with him in that belief, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Extract, Section 83 BNS (the same words as Section 496 IPC):

Whoever, dishonestly or with a fraudulent intention, goes through the ceremony of being married, knowing that he is not thereby lawfully married, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Extract, Section 219(1) BNSS (replacing Section 198(1) CrPC):

No Court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under sections 81 to 84 (both inclusive) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 except upon a complaint made by some person aggrieved by the offence

How it works

Section 81 BNS — cohabitation caused by deceit

The section applies to "Every man" and "any woman". The BNS defines "man" as a "male human being of any age" (Section 2(19)) and "woman" as a "female human being of any age" (Section 2(35)). The elements in the text are:

The woman is "not lawfully married to him".
Deceit by the man that causes her "to believe that she is lawfully married to him". The belief induced is about a marriage that already exists, not one promised for the future.
Cohabitation or sexual intercourse with him "in that belief".

Ram Chandra Bhagat (below) states the ingredients (Dave J., para 9); R.M. Lodha J., concurring, adds that proof of a marriage under personal law is not required (para 6).

Section 83 BNS — fraudulent marriage ceremony

"Whoever" covers any person. Under Section 2(10) BNS, "he" and its derivatives are used of any person, "whether male, female or transgender"; Section 8 IPC read "whether male or female". The elements are:

The accused goes through the ceremony of being married.
He knows he "is not thereby lawfully married".
He acts dishonestly or with a fraudulent intention. "Dishonestly" means doing anything with the intention of causing wrongful gain to one person or wrongful loss to another (Section 2(7) BNS). "Fraudulently" means doing anything with the intention to defraud but not otherwise (Section 2(9) BNS). Sections 24 and 25 IPC defined both words to the same effect.

Unlike Section 81, the section does not require cohabitation. One set of facts can engage both sections, as the complaint in Ashwin Nanubhai Vyas did (below).

Where Section 69 BNS fits

Section 69 BNS, which has no IPC counterpart, punishes sexual intercourse obtained "by deceitful means or by making promise to marry to a woman without any intention of fulfilling the same", not amounting to rape; its Explanation includes "marrying by suppressing identity". It is cognizable, non-bailable and triable by a Court of Session, and outside Section 219(1) BNSS, which names only Sections 81 to 84. See the false promise of marriage page.

What this means in practice

For the woman or person aggrieved

A court cannot take cognizance of an offence under Section 81 or 83 BNS except on a complaint by "some person aggrieved by the offence" (Section 219(1) BNSS).
Another person may complain on the aggrieved person's behalf, with the leave of the court, where that person is a child, is of unsound mind or has an intellectual disability requiring higher support needs, cannot complain because of sickness or infirmity, or is a woman who "ought not to be compelled to appear in public" (Section 219(1), proviso (a)).
The proviso letting a wife's father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter complain on her behalf (proviso (c)) names only Section 82 BNS. On a reading of the text, relatives complaining over a Section 81 or 83 offence need the court's leave under proviso (a).
Neither offence can be compounded. Sections 81 and 83 are absent from both tables in Section 359 BNSS, as Sections 493 and 496 IPC were absent from Section 320 CrPC.

For the accused and defence advocate

Both offences are now non-bailable. A "bailable offence" is one "shown as bailable in the First Schedule" (Section 2(1)(c) BNSS). For a bailable offence, Section 478(1) BNSS says the person "shall be released on bail"; for a non-bailable offence, Section 480(1) says he "may be released on bail", subject to its conditions. For a Section 83 charge, this replaces the position under the CrPC, where Section 496 IPC was a bailable offence.
A complaint that shows only a promise of future marriage, or a relationship without any induced belief of an existing lawful marriage, does not state the Section 81 ingredients (Arun Singh, below).
Where a lawful marriage in fact subsisted between the parties during the period alleged, the Section 81 ingredient "not lawfully married to him" is missing (Ravinder Kaur, below).
Section 219(7) BNSS extends the bar to abetment and attempt.

For the court and prosecutor

The Section 219 bar concerns taking cognizance. Under the 1898 Code, the Supreme Court held that the complainant's later death did not end the prosecution (Ashwin Nanubhai Vyas, below); whether that holds for Section 219 BNSS is a reading of the text.

Judgments that still matter

Ashwin Nanubhai Vyas v. State of Maharashtra & Anr., [1967] 1 S.C.R. 807 (1966 INSC 211) — 10 October 1966. A three-Judge Bench (M. Hidayatullah, S.M. Sikri and Raghubar Dayal JJ.; judgment by Hidayatullah J.) dealt with a complaint under Sections 417, 493 and 496 IPC alleging a sham marriage before a person posing as an officer of the Registrar of Marriages. The complainant died during the committal inquiry, and the Magistrate allowed her mother to continue the prosecution. Applying Section 198 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, the Court held: "The section creates a bar which has to be removed before cognizance is taken." Once a proper person had complained, the section "works itself out" (report p. 811). The power under Section 495 of that Code to let another person conduct the prosecution remained available (p. 812). The appeal was dismissed. The report shows no paragraph numbers. Applying the 1898 Code, the Court described the Sections 493 and 496 offences as "non-cognizable, not compoundable and exclusively triable by Court of session"; under the CrPC and the BNSS they are triable by a Magistrate of the first class.

Ram Chandra Bhagat v. State of Jharkhand, [2012] 10 S.C.R. 1050 (2012 INSC 513) — 9 November 2012. After a Division Bench split (Markandey Katju J. and Gyan Sudha Misra J., as described by R.M. Lodha J. at para 7), a three-Judge Bench dismissed the appeal against conviction. Anil R. Dave J., delivering the lead judgment, found that the appellant had the complainant sign a marriage registration form, which made her believe they were married; they lived together for nine years and had two children, though no marriage took place (paras 4, 12-13, 17). R.M. Lodha J., concurring, agreed with Misra J. that the induced belief need not rest on a marriage by custom, ritual or under the Special Marriage Act (paras 7-8), and stated that the ingredients are "(a) deceit causing a false belief of existence of a lawful marriage and (b) cohabitation or sexual intercourse with the person causing such belief", adding: "It is not necessary to establish the factum of marriage according to personal law" (para 6). The operative words of Section 493 IPC are repeated in Section 81 BNS.

Ravinder Kaur v. Anil Kumar, [2015] 4 S.C.R. 551 (2015 INSC 301) — 9 April 2015. J.S. Khehar and S.A. Bobde JJ. considered a wife's complaint, pressed only under Sections 493 and 494 IPC (para 6), alleging that her husband continued cohabitation after obtaining an ex parte divorce decree without telling her. The decree was later set aside. The Court held that the marriage was then deemed to have subsisted throughout, so the husband "could not have deceived the appellant of the existence of a "lawful marriage", when a lawful marriage indeed existed between the parties" (para 9), and the Section 493 charge was not made out. Section 300 CrPC did not bar this second complaint, as the husband had only been discharged on the first (para 8). It directed compounding of the Section 494 complaint and payment of Rs. 5 lakh compensation (paras 10, 12). The appeal was disposed of.

Arun Singh & Others v. State of U.P. through its Secretary & Another, [2020] 3 S.C.R. 707 (2020 INSC 163) — 10 February 2020. Navin Sinha and Krishna Murari JJ. (judgment by Krishna Murari J.) considered a charge-sheet under Section 493 IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. The FIR alleged that, after the marriage was settled, the first appellant told the complainant's daughter that only the "Feras" remained (para 23). Relying on Ram Chandra Bhagat (para 19), the Court held that the allegations "do not even prima-facie, cull out any inducement of belief in the victim that she is lawfully married" to him (para 24). It quashed the charge-sheet as far as Section 493 went, dismissed the appeal on the dowry charges (paras 30-31), and upheld the High Court's refusal to quash on the basis of the parties' compromise (paras 15-16).

No Supreme Court judgment construing Section 81 or 83 BNS was traced in our corpus as at 28 September 2026.

Which law applies to your case

Section 358(2) BNS preserves 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 text, a deceitful cohabitation or sham ceremony before 1 July 2024 is charged under Section 493 or 496 IPC. Under Section 531(2)(a) BNSS, any trial, inquiry or investigation pending on that date continues under the CrPC. The punishments are unchanged, so, on a reading of Article 20(1) of the Constitution (no penalty greater than the law in force at the time of the offence), no penalty question arises. These provisions do not say whether a later complaint about earlier conduct attracts the BNSS classification of Section 83. See which law applies to an offence before 1 July 2024.

Frequently asked questions

What is the BNS equivalent of Sections 493 and 496 IPC? Section 81 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 replaces Section 493 IPC (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage), and Section 83 BNS replaces Section 496 IPC (marriage ceremony fraudulently gone through without lawful marriage). Both took effect on 1 July 2024, and the operative words of each are unchanged.

Has the punishment changed under Sections 81 and 83 BNS? No. Section 81 BNS keeps imprisonment of either description up to ten years and liability to fine, as in Section 493 IPC. Section 83 BNS keeps imprisonment of either description up to seven years and liability to fine, as in Section 496 IPC.

Is a fraudulent marriage ceremony a bailable offence under the BNS? No. The First Schedule to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 lists Section 83 BNS as non-cognizable and non-bailable, triable by a Magistrate of the first class. Under the CrPC First Schedule, Section 496 IPC was bailable: its entry reads 'Ditto', which traces up to the Section 494 IPC row marked 'Bailable'. Section 81 BNS, like Section 493 IPC, is non-bailable.

Can the police start a case under Section 81 or 83 BNS on their own? No court may take cognizance of an offence under Sections 81 to 84 BNS except on a complaint made by some person aggrieved by the offence (Section 219(1) BNSS), which replaces Section 198(1) CrPC. Another person may complain with the leave of the court where the aggrieved person is a child, is of unsound mind, has an intellectual disability requiring higher support needs, is unable to complain through sickness or infirmity, or is a woman who ought not to be compelled to appear in public.

Is a promise to marry enough for an offence under Section 81 BNS? Not on the words of the section, which require deceit causing a woman to believe she is already lawfully married and cohabitation in that belief. In Arun Singh v. State of U.P. (2020), the Supreme Court quashed a Section 493 IPC charge-sheet where the FIR alleged only that the marriage was settled and ceremonies remained. Sexual intercourse on a promise to marry made without intending to fulfil it is a separate offence under Section 69 BNS.

Can these offences be compromised? No. Neither Section 81 nor Section 83 BNS appears in either compounding table in Section 359 BNSS, just as Sections 493 and 496 IPC did not appear in Section 320 CrPC. Among Sections 81 to 84 BNS, bigamy under Section 82(1) is compoundable with the permission of the court by the husband or wife of the person so marrying, and enticing a married woman under Section 84 by the husband of the woman and the woman.

Sources

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Gazette text): Sections 2(7), 2(9), 2(10), 2(19), 2(35), 69, 81, 83 and 358, and the Chapter V heading.
Indian Penal Code, 1860 (India Code text): Sections 8, 24, 25 and 493 to 496 (Chapter XX).
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Gazette text): Sections 2(1)(c), 219, 359, 478(1), 480(1) and 531(2)(a); First Schedule entries for Sections 69, 81, 82 and 83 BNS.
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (India Code text): Sections 2(a), 198 and 320; First Schedule entries for Sections 493 to 498 IPC, with every "Ditto" traced.
Constitution of India: Article 20(1).
Judgments read in full text: Ashwin Nanubhai Vyas v. State of Maharashtra (1967_1_807_812_EN.md); Ram Chandra Bhagat v. State of Jharkhand (2012_10_1050_1063_EN.md); Ravinder Kaur v. Anil Kumar (2015_4_551_562_EN.md); Arun Singh v. State of U.P. (2020_3_707_722_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 493 and 496 IPC vs Sections 81 and 83 BNS — Cohabitation by Deceit and Fraudulent Marriage Ceremony