Section 342 punishes counterfeiting, upon or in the substance of any material, a device or mark used for authenticating a document, intending that it be used to give the appearance of authenticity to a document forged or to be forged on that material, and also possessing such marked material with that intent. For documents described in Section 338 the punishment is life imprisonment or up to seven years and fine; for other documents or electronic records it is up to seven years and fine.
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 342 carries no Change marker in the concordance, which lists it against two IPC sections; classed at section level as Exact in substance on Lexovia's own comparison of the two texts — two separate sections of the old Indian Penal Code, 1860 are brought together in this one section, one for each sub-section (a 2→1 merger). Sub-section (1) differs from IPC Section 475 only in its cross-reference, and sub-section (2) differs from IPC Section 476 only in its cross-reference and in an added electronic-record reference that this project’s local IPC extract cannot settle (see the sourcing note below):
| BNS section | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 342(1) | S.475 “Counterfeiting device or mark used for authenticating documents described in section 467, or possessing counterfeit marked material” | Exact |
| 342(2) | S.476 “Counterfeiting device or mark used for authenticating documents other than those described in section 467, or possessing counterfeit marked material” | Exact |
Structure — a 2→1 merger at section level, in which sub-section (1) corresponds to IPC Section 475 and sub-section (2) to IPC Section 476; substance — sub-sections (1) and (2) are both Exact, for the reasons in the sourcing note below. A word-by-word comparison of the two texts shows exactly these differences. (1) against IPC Section 475: the only difference is the cross-reference, “section 467 of this Code” becoming “section 338”; the punishment (imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for up to seven years, and fine) is the same, and the IPC copy's footnote on “imprisonment for life” records the substitution for “transportation for life” by Act 26 of 1955. (2) against IPC Section 476: two textual differences: the BNS adds “or electronic record” after “any document” (“any document or electronic record other than the documents described in section 338”), and the cross-reference “section 467 of this Code” becomes “section 338”. Sourcing note: the IPC text used for this comparison is this project’s local extract, which contains no electronic-record wording at all and does not include the amendments made by the Information Technology Act, 2000. The electronic-record difference is therefore stated against that older text; the true IPC as it stood immediately before the BNS took effect may well already have carried this wording, in which case the real old-to-new difference is smaller than stated here, or nil. Because the re-pointed cross-reference is treated as Exact in sub-section (1), the electronic-record point was the only basis for calling sub-section (2) “Substantively changed”, so it is labelled “Exact”; if a complete current IPC text shows a genuine difference, the label should be revisited. The punishment (imprisonment of either description for up to seven years, and fine) is the same. The BNS marginal heading is the IPC Section 475 heading with the section number it names changed from 467 to 338; the BNS has no separate heading for sub-section (2).
(1) Whoever counterfeits upon, or in the substance of, any material, any device or mark used for the purpose of authenticating any document described in section 338, intending that such device or mark shall be used for the purpose of giving the appearance of authenticity to any document then forged or thereafter to be forged on such material, or who, with such intent, has in his possession any material upon or in the substance of which any such device or mark has been counterfeited, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
(2) Whoever counterfeits upon, or in the substance of, any material, any device or mark used for the purpose of authenticating any document or electronic record other than the documents described in section 338, intending that such device or mark shall be used for the purpose of giving the appearance of authenticity to any document then forged or thereafter to be forged on such material, or who with such intent, has in his possession any material upon or in the substance of which any such device or mark has been counterfeited, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term 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.
Sub-section (1) deals with the counterfeiting of the authenticating device or mark itself, as distinct from the seal or plate used for making an impression, which is dealt with in Section 341. The offender counterfeits, “upon, or in the substance of, any material”, a “device or mark used for the purpose of authenticating” a document described in Section 338, intending that the counterfeit device or mark “shall be used for the purpose of giving the appearance of authenticity to any document then forged or thereafter to be forged on such material”. A second limb reaches a person who, with the same intent, has in his possession any material upon or in the substance of which such a device or mark has been counterfeited; this is the “possessing counterfeit marked material” of the section's heading. “Counterfeit” has the meaning given in Section 2(4). “Device”, “mark” (in this sense) and “material” are not defined in Section 2.
The documents in question are those described in Section 338: in outline, valuable securities, wills, authorities to adopt a son, authorities to deal with valuable securities, money or movable property, and receipts and acquittances for money or for the delivery of property (the full list is in Section 338). The words “then forged or thereafter to be forged” mean that the material may carry a document already forged or one that is yet to be forged on it; the section is framed around the intent, and does not say that a forged document must actually be produced. The punishment is imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and the offender is also liable to fine. Under the BNSS First Schedule, sub-section (1) is printed as non-cognizable and bailable, triable by a Magistrate of the first class; it is not compoundable.
Sub-section (2) covers the same conduct where the device or mark is used for authenticating “any document or electronic record other than the documents described in section 338”. The elements are otherwise the same as in sub-section (1): counterfeiting the device or mark upon or in the substance of any material, or possessing such marked material with the same intent, in each case intending that the device or mark be used to give the appearance of authenticity to any document then forged or thereafter to be forged on that material. Sub-section (1) refers to a “document described in section 338”, while sub-section (2) refers to “document or electronic record”; Section 2(8) provides that “document” includes electronic and digital record.
The punishment is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and the offender is also liable to fine; the term ceiling is the same as in sub-section (1), without the life-imprisonment alternative. Under the BNSS First Schedule, sub-section (2) is printed as non-cognizable and non-bailable (where sub-section (1) is printed as bailable), triable by a Magistrate of the first class; it is not compoundable. Which sub-section applies depends on the kind of document the device or mark is used to authenticate: a document described in Section 338 falls under sub-section (1), and any other document or electronic record under sub-section (2).
Sub-section (1) (device or mark for authenticating documents described in Section 338): imprisonment for life, or imprisonment of either description for up to seven years, and fine. Sub-section (2) (device or mark for authenticating other documents or electronic records): imprisonment of either description for up to seven years and fine.
Under the First Schedule to the BNSS both sub-sections are non-cognizable and triable by a Magistrate of the first class. Sub-section (1) is printed as bailable and sub-section (2) as non-bailable. Neither is compoundable under BNSS Section 359.
Section 341 concerns seals, plates and other instruments for making an impression. Section 342 concerns a counterfeit device or mark on material itself, and possession of material carrying such a counterfeit device or mark.
No. The section requires an intent that the device or mark be used to give the appearance of authenticity to a document “then forged or thereafter to be forged” on the material. It does not say that a forged document must already have been produced.
Yes. The two IPC sections are combined as sub-sections (1) and (2), the cross-reference changes from IPC Section 467 to BNS Section 338, and sub-section (2) adds “or electronic record”. The punishments are the same.