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Section434
The Indian Penal Code, 1860

Mischief by destroying or moving, etc., a land-mark fixed by public authority

Repealed From 01 Jan 1862 Act 45 of 1860 As on 17 Oct 2026

Act 45 of 1860 Ministry Home Affairs Enacted 06 Oct 1860 In force 01 Jan 1862 Cited by 14 provisions

This provision is repealed. Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024. It is reproduced because conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.

Section 434 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 deals with mischief by destroying or moving, etc., a land-mark fixed by public authority. Whoever commits mischief by destroying or moving any land-mark fixed by the authority of a public servant, or by any act which renders such land-mark less useful as such, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, 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 Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and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 commits mischief by destroying or moving any land-mark fixed by the authority of a public servant, or by any act which renders such land-mark less useful as such, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

Section 434, The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860).

Now in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

BNS 326 Mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance, etc Close, with changes 73%

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 The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force.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.

Referred to by 14

  1. Central Provinces Land-Revenue Act s. 134 Cognizance of, and penalty for, offence of injuring boundary-marks
  2. Consolidation of Holdings Act s. 46
  3. Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act s. 3
  4. Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act s. 3
  5. Himachal Pradesh Abadi Deh (Record of Rights) Act s. 28 Penalty for destruction, dismantling or removal of survey marks and demarcation
  6. Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act s. 120 Penalty for destruction, injury or removal of survey-marks
  7. Karnataka Krishna Basin Development Authority Act s. 46 Amendment of Karnataka Act 34 of 1987
  8. Odisha Consolidation of Holdings and Prevention of Fragmentation of Land Act s. 55
  9. Punjab Abadi Deh (Record of Rights) Act, 2021. (Punjab Act No. 8 of 2021) s. 28
  10. Punjab Land-Revenue Act s. 108 Penalty for destruction, injury or removal of survey-marks
  11. Rajasthan Holdings (Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmentation) Act s. 39 Penalty for destruction, injury or removal of survey marks
  12. Sardar Beant Singh State University Act s. 28

and 2 more

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.

  1. Rameshwaram Santhoshamma vs The State of Andhra Pradesh

    High Court 06 Dec 2019 Persuasive (Other High Court)

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    When the allegations in a complaint disclose only non-cognizable offences, the police are not obligated to register an FIR, and their refusal to do so does not constitute illegal or arbitrary action. The police act within their legal authority when they decline to register FIRs for non-cognizable offences, and the proper remedy for the complainant is to file a private complaint before the Judicial Magistrate.

    On this section: Punishment for mischief - non-cognizable offence with punishment up to one year or fine or both. Applied to establish that property damage falls under non-cognizable offence category.

    Read the full order on eCourts India

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 434

What have the courts held on Section 434 of the Indian Penal Code?

Rameshwaram Santhoshamma vs The State of Andhra Pradesh (06 Dec 2019) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Punishment for mischief - non-cognizable offence with punishment up to one year or fine or both. Applied to establish that property damage falls under non-cognizable offence category.

How do I find court cases under Section 434 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 434, section 434 IPC, section 434 of the Indian Penal Code. People searching for it also type ipc 434 in bns and 434 ipc punishment. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Rameshwaram Santhoshamma vs The State of Andhra Pradesh (06 Dec 2019).

What should I read with Section 434 of the Indian Penal Code, and has it changed?

14 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNS 326 (Mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance, etc), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.

When did Section 434 of the Indian Penal Code come into force?

Section 434 of the Indian Penal Code, cited as IPC 434, came into force on 01 Jan 1862, having been enacted on 06 Oct 1860. It is no longer in force.

Other sections of this Act

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.