Section 13 raises the maximum punishment for a repeat offender: someone previously convicted in India of a serious offence under the coin/currency-notes/government-stamps chapter or the property-offences chapter, carrying three years' imprisonment or more, who commits a further like offence under either of those same two chapters becomes liable to imprisonment for life, or up to ten years' imprisonment.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal) and cross-checked directly against the bare text of both Acts. Section 13 is marked Exact correspondence, once the Act's own internal chapter renumbering is accounted for:
| BNS 13 | Covers | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Enhanced punishment for certain offences after previous conviction | S.75 (same rule, referencing Chapter XII/XVII) | Exact |
Comparing the bare text directly, BNS Section 13 reproduces old IPC Section 75's rule and both punishment options (life imprisonment, or imprisonment of either description up to ten years) without change. The one textual difference is a chapter-number reference: BNS 13 refers to “Chapter X or Chapter XVII,” while IPC 75 referred to “Chapter XII or Chapter XVII.” This is not a substantive narrowing or widening of which offences trigger enhanced punishment — verified against the concordance's own chapter-to-chapter mapping, BNS Chapter X (“Of Offences Relating to Coin, Currency-Notes, Bank-Notes, and Government Stamps”) is the renumbered successor to IPC Chapter XII (“Of Offences Relating to Coin and Government Stamps”), while Chapter XVII (Offences Against Property) kept the same number in both Acts. The reference was updated only because the BNS renumbered that chapter elsewhere in the Act, not because Section 13 itself changed which category of offence attracts enhanced punishment.
Whoever, having been convicted by a Court in India, of an offence punishable under Chapter X or Chapter XVII of this Sanhita with imprisonment of either description for a term of three years or upwards, shall be guilty of any offence punishable under either of those Chapters with like imprisonment for the like term, shall be subject for every such subsequent offence to imprisonment for life, or to imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
This section is a repeat-offender enhancement, narrowly confined to two specific chapters of the Sanhita: Chapter X (coin, currency-notes, bank-notes, and government stamps) and Chapter XVII (offences against property). Four conditions must all be met before it applies. First, the person must have a prior conviction by a Court in India (a conviction outside India does not count). Second, that prior conviction must have been for an offence under Chapter X or Chapter XVII specifically. Third, that prior offence must have carried imprisonment of either description for a term of three years or more — a minor offence under either chapter, carrying a shorter maximum, does not trigger this section. Fourth, the person must then be found guilty of a further offence under either of those same two chapters, itself carrying the like punishment (three years or more). Where all four conditions are met, the enhanced punishment displaces whatever the specific offence's own punishment clause would otherwise have prescribed: imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description up to ten years — a materially heavier ceiling aimed specifically at repeat serious offending within these two chapters.
No. Only a prior conviction, by a Court in India, for an offence under Chapter X or Chapter XVII carrying imprisonment of either description for three years or more, followed by a further like offence under either of those same two chapters.
No. The section specifically requires the earlier conviction to have been by a Court in India.
Imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years — in place of whatever lesser punishment the fresh offence's own clause would otherwise have prescribed.