Section 252 punishes a person who takes, or agrees or consents to take, a gratification under pretence of, or on account of, helping someone to recover movable property of which he has been deprived by an offence punishable under the Sanhita, unless he uses all means in his power to cause the offender to be apprehended and convicted of the offence. The punishment is imprisonment of either description for up to two years, or fine, or both.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau’s official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal) and compared word by word, by a systematic text comparison, with the bare text of both Acts. Section 252 is marked Exact correspondence — it descends from one section of the old Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the only difference in wording is in the reference to the Act itself:
| BNS 252 | Covers | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 252 | Taking gift to help to recover stolen property, etc. | S.215 “Taking gift to help to recover stolen property, etc.” | Exact |
IPC Section 215 reads: “Whoever takes or agrees or consents to take any gratification under pretence or on account of helping any person to recover any movable property of which he shall have been deprived by any offence punishable under this Code, shall, unless he uses all means in his power to cause the offender to be apprehended and convicted of the offence, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.” A word-by-word comparison of the two texts (the IPC page was also viewed as an image, and its reading order is clean) shows that the only difference in the words of the section is that IPC 215 says “punishable under this Code” where BNS 252 says “punishable under this Sanhita”; the rest, including the punctuation and the punishment (imprisonment of either description for up to two years, or fine, or both), is the same in both texts. The IPC prints the section’s heading run in with its text and the BNS prints it as a marginal heading; that is a matter of layout. The concordance carries no change tag for this row, and this page classes Section 252 as Exact.
Whoever takes or agrees or consents to take any gratification under pretence or on account of helping any person to recover any movable property of which he shall have been deprived by any offence punishable under this Sanhita, shall, unless he uses all means in his power to cause the offender to be apprehended and convicted of the offence, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
The section has four connected parts. First, the accused “takes or agrees or consents to take any gratification”. Second, he does so “under pretence or on account of helping any person to recover any movable property of which he shall have been deprived by any offence punishable under this Sanhita”. Third, the section says he shall be punished “unless he uses all means in his power to cause the offender to be apprehended and convicted of the offence”. Fourth, the punishment is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or fine, or both. The section is one sentence, and the closing “unless” words qualify the punishment within that sentence; this page adds no rule about how they are to be shown.
On its wording, the section reaches both a gratification taken “under pretence” of helping and one taken “on account of helping”, and in both cases the closing words of the section, beginning “unless”, are the words to look at. The acts covered are wider than receipt: “takes or agrees or consents to take”. “Gratification” and “pretence” are not defined in Section 2, so the section’s own words are the guide.
“Movable property” is defined in Section 2(21): it includes property of every description, except land and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything which is attached to the earth. The property must be property “of which he shall have been deprived by any offence punishable under this Sanhita”. Although the heading of the section speaks of “stolen property, etc.”, the words of the section itself are not limited to theft: they speak of deprivation “by any offence punishable under this Sanhita”. Section 252 is not among the sections named in Section 2(24)(a) or (b), so the word “offence” here takes the meaning given in the opening words of Section 2(24): a thing made punishable by the Sanhita.
The section differs from Section 250, which concerns a gratification accepted in consideration of concealing an offence, screening a person from legal punishment or not proceeding against a person. The words of Section 252 do not mention concealing an offence, screening or not proceeding; they are about a gratification taken for helping to recover property.
The punishment is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or fine, or both. The section says “or with fine, or with both”, so fine is an alternative to imprisonment or an addition to it. It states no amount of fine; Section 8(1) provides that where no sum is expressed to which a fine may extend, the amount of fine is unlimited, but shall not be excessive.
The BNSS First Schedule row for Section 252 reads “Taking gift to help to recover movable property of which a person has been deprived by an offence without causing apprehension of offender” and records imprisonment for 2 years, or fine, or both; cognizable (BNSS Section 2(1)(g): a police officer may, in accordance with the First Schedule, arrest without warrant); bailable (BNSS Section 2(1)(c) treats an offence shown as bailable in the First Schedule as a bailable offence, and BNSS Section 478(1) provides that when a person other than one accused of a non-bailable offence is arrested or detained without warrant by an officer in charge of a police station, or appears or is brought before a Court, and is prepared to give bail, he “shall be released on bail”); and triable by a Magistrate of the first class. It appears in neither compounding table of BNSS Section 359, so it is not compoundable under that section.
The heading speaks of “stolen property, etc.”, but the words of the section speak of “any movable property of which he shall have been deprived by any offence punishable under this Sanhita”. On those words the section is not limited to theft.
The section says that the person who takes the gratification shall be punished “unless he uses all means in his power to cause the offender to be apprehended and convicted of the offence”. Those are the words of the section; Section 2 does not define them, and this page does not go beyond them.
Section 250 is about accepting a gratification in consideration of concealing an offence, screening a person from legal punishment, or not proceeding against a person. Section 252 is about taking a gratification under pretence or on account of helping a person to recover movable property lost through an offence, and it does not mention concealing, screening or not proceeding.
The BNSS First Schedule lists it as cognizable and bailable, triable by a Magistrate of the first class. Under BNSS Section 478(1), when a person other than one accused of a non-bailable offence is arrested or detained without warrant, or appears or is brought before a Court, and is prepared to give bail, he “shall be released on bail”. Section 252 is not in either compounding table of BNSS Section 359, so it is not compoundable under that section.