Keeping lottery office
Section 294A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 deals with keeping lottery office. Whoever keeps any office or place for the purpose of drawing any lottery [not being [a State lottery] or a lottery authorised by the [State] Government], shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both. The Act came into force on 01 Jan 1862. Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.
Whoever keeps any office or place for the purpose of drawing any lottery [not being [a State lottery] or a lottery authorised by the [State] Government], shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.
And whoever publishes any proposal to pay any sum, or to deliver any goods, or to do or forbear doing anything for the benefit of any person, on any event or contingency relative or applicable to the drawing of any ticket, lot, number or figure in any such lottery shall be punished with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees.]
CHAPTER XV
OF OFFENCES RELATING TO RELIGION
CHAPTER XV
OF OFFENCES RELATING TO RELIGION
Section 294A, The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860).
Now in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
BNS 297 Keeping lottery office Text carried over almost unchanged 93%
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 The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force.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.
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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Chullikulath Muhammed Basheer vs The State of Kerala
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Mere presence in a room where gaming or lottery activity is occurring, without evidence of actual participation in wagering or betting, is insufficient to constitute an offense under the Kerala Gaming Act 1960 or IPC Section 294A. The prosecution must establish that the accused was actually engaged in the prohibited activity, not merely present at the location.
On this section: Cited for the offense of keeping a lottery office or place for drawing any lottery not authorized by the State. Court found this section inapplicable to petitioners as they were not shown to be running the lottery operation.
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State of Punjab vs SANJAY JAIN
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When prosecution witnesses provide consistent, unrebutted, and uncontradicted testimony corroborated by physical evidence recovered during a lawfully conducted undercover police operation and raid, and the accused fail to substantiate their defense of false implication, the court may convict the accused beyond reasonable doubt for operating an illegal gambling scheme in violation of the Public Gambling Act and for public indecency under the Indian Penal Code.
On this section: Offense of obscene acts and songs in public place; applied to the accused's public proclamation of gambling odds and terms to passersby
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 294A
What have the courts held on Section 294A of the Indian Penal Code?
Chullikulath Muhammed Basheer vs The State of Kerala (18 Sep 2009) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Cited for the offense of keeping a lottery office or place for drawing any lottery not authorized by the State. Court found this section inapplicable to petitioners as they were not shown to be running the lottery operation. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below. They run from 2009 to 2022.
How do I find court cases under Section 294A of the Indian Penal Code?
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: IPC 294A, section 294A IPC, section 294A of the Indian Penal Code. People searching for it also type 294a ipc punishment and section 294a ipc in bns. 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 Chullikulath Muhammed Basheer vs The State of Kerala (18 Sep 2009).
What should I read with Section 294A of the Indian Penal Code, and has it changed?
2 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNS 297 (Keeping lottery office), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 294A of the Indian Penal Code come into force?
Section 294A of the Indian Penal Code, cited as IPC 294A, came into force on 01 Jan 1862, having been enacted on 06 Oct 1860. It is no longer in force.
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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. Recovered from the consolidated text published by India Code (item 7b7d4fe6-206b-4e33-81f1-b98b018acaf6). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.