Section 358 repeals the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and then says what that repeal does not disturb: the Code's previous operation and anything duly done under it, rights, obligations and liabilities already acquired or incurred, penalties and punishments already incurred, and related investigations, proceedings and remedies, which may be continued as if the Code had not been repealed. It also treats anything done under the old Code as done under the corresponding provisions of the Sanhita, and preserves the general application of Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897. It is a non-penal provision: it creates no offence and carries no punishment.
Verified against the National Crime Records Bureau's official BNS–IPC concordance (Sankalan Portal). Section 358 is classed as No predecessor — the concordance carries a “New Section” marker against it, with no section of the old Indian Penal Code, 1860 opposite it:
| BNS section | IPC, 1860 equivalent | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 358 | No predecessor | No predecessor |
The concordance table records BNS Section 358 as a “New Section,” so there is no IPC provision against which to compare its wording. Its subject matter is the repeal of the Indian Penal Code itself, together with the savings that go with that repeal.
(1) The Indian Penal Code is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the Code referred to in sub-section (1), it shall not affect,—
(a) the previous operation of the Code so repealed or anything duly done or suffered thereunder; or
(b) any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the Code so repealed; or
(c) any penalty, or punishment incurred in respect of any offences committed against the Code so repealed; or
(d) any investigation or remedy in respect of any such penalty, or punishment; or
(e) any proceeding, investigation or remedy in respect of any such penalty or punishment as aforesaid, and any such proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced, and any such penalty may be imposed as if that Code had not been repealed.
(3) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Code shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Sanhita.
(4) The mention of particular matters in sub-section (2) shall not be held to prejudice or affect the general application of section 6 of the General Clauses Act,1897 with regard to the effect of the repeal.
Source: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act No. 45 of 2023), as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
Sub-section (1) is a single sentence: “The Indian Penal Code is hereby repealed.” The Code meant is the Indian Penal Code, 1860 — the printed Sanhita gives its Act number, 45 of 1860, beside the sub-section — which is the prior law that the “Corresponding Provision Under Prior Law” table on each section's page compares that section against. The sub-section states the repeal but does not by itself say when it takes effect. Section 1(2) of the Sanhita provides that it shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and that different dates may be appointed for different provisions. The date from which the repeal in this sub-section operates therefore depends on the commencement notification, which this page does not reproduce and which the reader should check directly.
Sub-section (1) names only the Indian Penal Code. Section 1(6) of the Sanhita separately provides that nothing in the Sanhita shall affect the provisions of any Act for punishing mutiny and desertion of officers, soldiers, sailors or airmen in the service of the Government of India, or the provisions of any special or local law (Section 2(30) defines “special law” as a law applicable to a particular subject, and Section 2(18) defines “local law” as a law applicable only to a particular part of India). Sub-section (1) states the repeal only. Sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) then deal with the effect of the repeal on earlier matters.
Sub-section (2) opens “Notwithstanding the repeal of the Code referred to in sub-section (1), it shall not affect,” and then lists five things, each joined by “or.” Clause (a): the previous operation of the repealed Code, or anything duly done or suffered under it. Clause (b): any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the repealed Code. Clause (c): any penalty or punishment incurred in respect of any offences committed against the repealed Code. Clause (d): any investigation or remedy in respect of any such penalty or punishment. Clause (e): any proceeding, investigation or remedy in respect of any such penalty or punishment “as aforesaid,” followed by the sentence that any such proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced, and any such penalty may be imposed, as if that Code had not been repealed.
On the words of the sub-section, any penalty or punishment incurred in respect of offences committed against the Indian Penal Code is among the things the repeal “shall not affect,” and clause (e) provides that the related proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced, and the penalty imposed, as if the Code had not been repealed. Clauses (d) and (e) overlap in their wording — both mention an investigation or remedy in respect of a penalty or punishment — and clause (e) adds the reference to proceedings and the closing “as if that Code had not been repealed” sentence. The sub-section does not itself say which enactment applies to conduct that straddles the commencement date, and this page does not go beyond its words; how it applies to a particular case depends on the facts of the case.
Sub-section (3) is a deeming provision. It says that, notwithstanding the repeal, “anything done or any action taken under the said Code shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Sanhita.” The words “anything done or any action taken” are wide, and unlike sub-section (2) they are not confined to a list. The effect is one of continuity: a step that rested on a provision of the Indian Penal Code is treated as resting on the corresponding provision of the Sanhita.
The sub-section does not itself list which provisions of the Sanhita correspond to which provisions of the Code. The official concordance published on the National Crime Records Bureau's Sankalan Portal, on which the “Corresponding Provision Under Prior Law” tables on these pages are based, is a reference table — the concordance itself carries the note “For Reference only.” The mapping between the two enactments is not always one-to-one; those tables distinguish exact, merged, split and substantively changed correspondence, and sections with no predecessor.
Sub-section (4) reads: “The mention of particular matters in sub-section (2) shall not be held to prejudice or affect the general application of section 6 of the General Clauses Act,1897 with regard to the effect of the repeal.” It is a direction about how sub-section (2) is to be read. The Sanhita has listed particular matters that the repeal does not affect; sub-section (4) says that listing them is not to be held to prejudice or affect the general application of Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (a separate Act, referred to in the margin of the printed Sanhita as Act 10 of 1897) to the effect of the repeal.
The terms of Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 are not part of the Sanhita and are not reproduced or described on this page; a reader who needs them should read that section of that Act directly.
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860). Sub-section (1) states: “The Indian Penal Code is hereby repealed.”
Sub-section (2) provides that the repeal shall not affect any penalty or punishment incurred in respect of offences committed against the repealed Code, or any proceeding or remedy in respect of it, and clause (e) says such a proceeding may be instituted, continued or enforced, and such a penalty imposed, as if the Code had not been repealed. How this applies to a particular case depends on its facts and on the dates involved.
No. Section 358 is a non-penal repeal-and-savings provision. It creates no offence and prescribes no punishment, so it has no entry in the First Schedule to the BNSS and no classification as cognizable or bailable.
Section 1(2) of the Sanhita provides that it comes into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and that different dates may be appointed for different provisions. This page does not reproduce the commencement notification; please check it directly.
The sub-section does not list them. The “Corresponding Provision Under Prior Law” table on each section’s page, based on the official concordance published by the National Crime Records Bureau, shows how each BNS section relates to the IPC; that table is a reference aid, and the concordance itself notes that it is for reference only.
The official concordance lists Section 358 as a “New Section,” with no IPC section opposite it.