Furnishing false information
Section 212 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 deals with furnishing false information. Whoever, being legally bound to furnish information on any subject to any public servant, as such, furnishes, as true, information on the subject which he knows or has reason to believe to be false,— (a) shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fi The Act came into force on 01 Jul 2024.
Whoever, being legally bound to furnish information on any subject to any public servant, as such, furnishes, as true, information on the subject which he knows or has reason to believe to be false,—
(a) shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both;
(b) where the information which he is legally bound to give respects the commission of an offence, or is required for the purpose of preventing the commission of an offence, or in order to the apprehension of an offender, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
Illustrations.
(a) A, a landholder, knowing of the commission of a murder within the limits of his estate, wilfully misinforms the Magistrate of the district that the death has occurred by accident in consequence of the bite of a snake. A is guilty of the offence defined in this section.
(b) A, a village watchman, knowing that a considerable body of strangers has passed through his village in order to commit a dacoity in the house of Z, a wealthy merchant residing in a neighbouring place, and being legally bound to give early and punctual information of the above fact to the officer of the nearest police station, wilfully misinforms the police officer that a body of suspicious characters passed through the village with a view to commit dacoity in a certain distant place in a different direction. Here A is guilty of the offence defined in this section.
Explanation.—In section 211 and in this section the word “offence” include any act committed at any place out of India, which, if committed in India, would be punishable under any of the following sections, namely, 103, 105, 307, sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) of section 309, sub-sections (2), (3), (4) and (5) of section 310, 311, 312, clauses (f) and (g) of section 326, sub-sections (4), (6), (7) and (8) of section 331, clauses (a) and (b) of section 332 and the word “offender” includes any person who is alleged to have been guilty of any such act.
Section 212, The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act 45 of 2023).
Replaces a provision of the Indian Penal Code
IPC 177 Furnishing false information Text carried over almost unchanged 94%
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
- s. 211 Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it
- s. 309 Robbery
- s. 310 Dacoity
- s. 311 Robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt
- s. 312 Attempt to commit robbery or dacoity when armed with deadly weapon
- s. 326 Mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance, etc
- s. 331 Punishment for house-trespass or house-breaking
- s. 332 House-trespass in order to commit offence
Referred to by 1
How this offence is classified
From the First Schedule to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which classifies every offence under the Sanhita. Cognizable means a police officer may arrest without warrant; bailable means bail is a matter of right rather than of the court's discretion. This section is classified 2 ways.
| Offence | Punishment | Cognizable | Bailable | Triable by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knowingly furnishing false information to public servant. | Simple imprisonment for 6 months, or fine of 5,000 rupees, or both. | Non-cognizable. | Bailable. | Any Magistrate. |
| If the information required respects the commission of an offence, etc. | Imprisonment for 2 years, or fine, or both. | Non-cognizable. | Bailable. | Any Magistrate. |
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Bishan Dass vs State of Punjab
Decided under Indian Penal Code 177, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The essential ingredients of Section 420 IPC require not merely the issuance of a false document or certificate by a public servant, but specifically require proof of dishonest intention and mens rea to cause wrongful gain for himself or wrongful loss to another. The mere fact that a false certificate was issued, which resulted in some unintended consequence such as land allotment, does not suffice to establish the offence of cheating under Section 420 IPC unless there is clear evidence of the accused's dishonest intention at the time of making the false statement or inducement. In contradistinction, Section 177 IPC, which deals with giving false information, requires only that a person legally bound to furnish information to a public servant furnishes as true information which he knows or has reason to believe to be false.
On this section: Conviction upheld. Section 177 deals with furnishing of false information to a public servant. Court found that as Sarpanch, appellant was legally bound to furnish correct information and issued false certificate knowing it to be false. All ingredients of Section 177 satisfied.
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Tamil Nadu Petro Products LTD vs Additional Depty Commercial
Decided under Indian Penal Code 177, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Once a corporate representative has been arrayed as an accused in criminal proceedings, that representative cannot be substituted or delegated to another person during the pendency of the trial. The representative who was responsible for the alleged offence at the relevant point of time cannot further delegate his position as accused to some other person. Section 305 CrPC permits a company to appoint a representative, but this does not extend to allowing substitution of the representative once the proceedings have commenced and the representative has been named as an accused.
On this section: Sections 177 (Furnishing false information), 409 (Criminal breach of trust), and 420 (Cheating) were cited in the criminal complaint against the company.
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 212
What have the courts held on Section 212 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita?
Bishan Dass vs State of Punjab (26 Aug 2014) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below, though it was decided under IPC 177, which this section replaced -- the court never mentioned this Act: Conviction upheld. Section 177 deals with furnishing of false information to a public servant. Court found that as Sarpanch, appellant was legally bound to furnish correct information and issued false certificate knowing it to be false. All ingredients of Section 177 satisfied. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below, 1 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2014 to 2021.
Is Section 212 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita bailable?
Bailable, under the First Schedule to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
Is Section 212 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita cognizable?
Non-cognizable. "Cognizable" means a police officer may arrest without warrant; "non-cognizable" that they may not. An offence under this section is triable by Any Magistrate.
How do I find court cases under Section 212 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: BNS 212, section 212 BNS, section 212 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. People searching for it also type bns 212 and 217 in hindi and bns 212 in ipc. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 2 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Bishan Dass vs State of Punjab (26 Aug 2014).
What should I read with Section 212 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 211 (Omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it), section 309 (Robbery), section 310 (Dacoity), section 311 (Robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), and on 4 further provisions, so none of them can safely be read on its own. 1 other provision in this corpus refers back to it. It carries forward IPC 177 (Furnishing false information), so the judgments decided under that provision are the case law on this one.
When did Section 212 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita come into force?
Section 212 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, cited as BNS 212, came into force on 01 Jul 2024, having been enacted on 25 Dec 2023. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 2. Definitions2199 words
- 356. Defamation1543 words
- 335. Making a false document1318 words
- 101. Murder1177 words
- 303. Theft1104 words
- 3. General explanations858 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 14 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.