Section 112 is a wholly new provision, with no equivalent under the old Indian Penal Code, 1860. It defines "petty organised crime" as theft, snatching, cheating, and similar acts committed by a member of a group or gang, and punishes it with imprisonment of one to seven years and fine.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal), which lists Section 112 as a "New Section," and cross-checked directly against the old Indian Penal Code, 1860, which contained no equivalent offence.
| BNS section | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 112 | — (none) | No predecessor |
"Petty organised crime," as a distinct, lower-threshold offence sitting alongside Section 111's organised crime, is new to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
(1) Whoever, being a member of a group or gang, either singly or jointly, commits any act of theft, snatching, cheating, unauthorised selling of tickets, unauthorised betting or gambling, selling of public examination question papers or any other similar criminal act, is said to commit petty organised crime.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section "theft" includes trick theft, theft from vehicle, dwelling house or business premises, cargo theft, pick pocketing, theft through card skimming, shoplifting and theft of Automated Teller Machine.
(2) Whoever commits any petty organised crime shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
This sub-section defines "petty organised crime" as an act of theft, snatching, cheating, unauthorised ticket selling, unauthorised betting or gambling, selling of examination question papers, or similar acts, committed by a person who is a member of a group or gang, whether acting singly or jointly with others. The Explanation broadens "theft" to expressly include trick theft, vehicle theft, dwelling-house or business-premises theft, cargo theft, pickpocketing, card-skimming theft, shoplifting, and ATM theft.
This sub-section sets the punishment for committing petty organised crime as defined in sub-section (1): imprisonment for a term of not less than one year, which may extend to seven years, along with fine.
Section 111 requires a "continuing unlawful activity" meeting specific conditions, including more than one charge-sheet filed and cognizance taken within the preceding ten years, and covers serious offences like extortion, trafficking, and contract killing. Section 112 applies to lesser acts like theft, snatching, and cheating, committed by a group or gang member, without that continuing-activity threshold, and carries a materially lower punishment.
No. The statute expressly covers a member of a group or gang acting "either singly or jointly." What matters is that the offender is a member of a group or gang, not that the specific act was committed together with other members.
No. Per the BNSS First Schedule, it is non-bailable and cognizable, triable by a Magistrate of the first class.