BNS §220

Illegal purchase or bid for property offered for sale by authority of public servant

Substantively sameConfidence: mediumStatus: editor verified
View government sourcemha.gov.in(opens the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 PDF on mha.gov.in in a new tab)
Last updated 2026-05-01 · Input coverage: full

Compiled by AI-assisted tools. Text verified against official sources where indicated. Field-level labels (AI-indicated / AI-inferred / Text-verified) apply per edge metadata. Verify current bail/cognizable status against official sources before relying on procedural claims. Last updated: 2026-04-28.

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Comparison

Old law
IPC §185
Illegal purchase or bid for property offered for sale by authority of public servant

185. Illegal purchase or bid for property offered for sale by authority of public servant.— Whoever, at any sale of property held by the lawful authority of a public servant, as such, purchases or bids for any property on account of any person, whether himself or any other, whom he knows to be under a legal incapacity to purchase that property at that sale, or bids for such property not intending to perform the obligations under which he lays himself by such bidding, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both.

New law
BNS §220
Illegal purchase or bid for property offered for sale by authority of public servant

Whoever, at any sale of property held by the lawful authority of a public servant, as such, purchases or bids for any property on account of any person, whether himself or any other, whom he knows to be under a legal incapacity to purchase that property at that sale, or bids for such property not intending to perform the obligations under which he lays himself by such bidding, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both.

What changedAI-inferred

IPC 185 (purchasing or bidding for property at a public-servant-conducted sale on behalf of someone with legal incapacity to purchase, or bidding without intending to perform obligations) is preserved character-identically as BNS 220 — including the unchanged ₹200 fine cap. This is a rare instance in BNS Chapter XIII where the colonial-era nominal fine ceiling is not modernised, possibly reflecting that the sub-offence is rarely prosecuted in practice.

Old position

IPC 185 is concerned with Illegal purchase or bid for property offered for sale by authority of public servant. Illegal purchase or bid for property offered for sale by authority of public servant

New position

BNS 220 preserves the framework with drafting modernisations as required by the new code. Topic: Illegal purchase or bid for property offered for sale by authority of public servant. Whoever, at any sale of property held by the lawful authority of a public servant, as such, purchases or bids for any property on account of any person, whether himself or any other, whom he knows to be under a legal incapacity to purchase

IPC 185 (purchasing or bidding for property at a public-servant-conducted sale on behalf of someone with legal incapacity to purchase, or bidding without intending to perform obligations) is preserved character-identically as BNS 220 — including the unchanged ₹200 fine cap. This is a rare instance...

Editorial deltaAI-indicated (source-linked)

IPC 185 (purchasing or bidding for property at a public-servant-conducted sale on behalf of someone with legal incapacity to purchase, or bidding without intending to perform obligations) is preserved character-identically as BNS 220 — including the unchanged ₹200 fine cap. This is a rare instance in BNS Chapter XIII where the colonial-era nominal fine ceiling is not modernised, possibly reflecting that the sub-offence is rarely prosecuted in practice.

Transitional note (repeal & savings)

For matters initiated before 1 July 2024, IPC 185 continues to apply. For matters from that date forward, BNS 220 applies. The transition is governed by the repeal-and-savings clause in the new code (BNS 358 / BNSS 531 / BSA 170 as the case may be); pending proceedings under the old code carry forward unaffected.

Frequently asked

BNS 220 (Illegal purchase or bid for property offered for sale by authority of public servant). The relationship is classified as substantively_same — see the change-note above for the textual delta.

Government source

The statutory text above is compiled from the Act as published by the Government of India. The links open the full Act; use the PDF's search to find the section number. The linked government pages offer no link to a single section.

Newlaws.in is an independent site, not a government body. The mappings and notes on this page are its own AI-assisted comparison and are not published or endorsed by any government body.

Sources

Cite this page

Newlaws.in, IPC §185 → BNS §220 Mapping Page, last updated 2026-05-01, accessed 2026-10-29, https://newlaws.in/bns/220.

Compiled using AI-assisted tools · Source-linked · Last updated 2026-05-01

Not legal advice. Verify against the bare act and consult a qualified advocate for any specific matter.