BNS Section 231: Giving or Fabricating False Evidence to Procure Conviction of a Serious Offence (IPC 195 Mapping) (2026)

Explainer · Criminal Law · BNS

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Section 231 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) punishes a person who gives or fabricates false evidence to get someone convicted of a serious, non-capital offence. The punishment is severe: the offender faces the same punishment as the crime he tried to pin on the innocent person. This is not the offence of "using as true evidence known to be false". That is a different, separate section. Section 231 maps to the old Section 195 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), not Section 196. This explainer sets out what the section really covers, how it maps to the old law, the punishment, and the classification. Last verified October 2026.

01Why the number can mislead

When the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on 1 July 2024, the chapter on false evidence was renumbered. The old numbers you may remember, such as Sections 191 to 200 of the IPC, now sit at new numbers in the BNS.

Section 231 of the BNS is the provision for giving or fabricating false evidence to procure a conviction for a serious offence. It is one of the gravest offences in the false-evidence chapter, because the punishment can match the crime that was wrongly alleged. Do not confuse it with the separate offence of using false evidence known to be false.

02What Section 231 covers

Section 231 of the BNS covers a person who gives or fabricates false evidence, intending or knowing it to be likely that the false evidence will cause another person to be convicted. The targeted offence must be one that is not capital, but is punishable with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for seven years or more.

The idea is simple but serious. A false witness, or someone who plants false evidence, can send an innocent person to prison for a long term. The law treats this as being as grave as committing the crime itself.

Fabricate evidence to send an innocent person to prison, and the law can hand you the same sentence that person would have faced.

03Key ingredients

To make out an offence under Section 231, these points must be shown:

• the accused gave false evidence, or fabricated false evidence;
• the accused intended, or knew it to be likely, that the false evidence would cause a person to be convicted; and
• the offence sought to be procured was punishable with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of seven years or more, but was not a capital offence.

Where the false evidence is aimed at procuring a conviction for a capital offence, the law is even stricter and a separate, heavier section applies. Section 231 is the next rung down, for serious but non-capital offences.

04Old to new: IPC 195 to BNS 231

Section 231 of the BNS carries forward Section 195 of the IPC. The structure and the punishment are the same.

So the old Section 195 of the IPC is the direct ancestor of Section 231 of the BNS. Because the words are carried over, judgments on Section 195 still guide how Section 231 is read.

05Punishment and classification

The punishment under Section 231 is unusual. The offender is liable to the same punishment as the person would have faced if convicted of the offence that the false evidence was meant to procure. So if the false evidence aimed to get a person convicted of an offence carrying life imprisonment, the false witness can face life imprisonment, and a fine may also apply.

On classification, Section 231 is linked to the underlying offence. The bare-act sources show it as:

• Non-cognizable
• Non-bailable
• Triable by the Court of Session

06What this means in practice

Section 231 is a strong deterrent against fabricating evidence. For defence counsel, it is a key provision when the defence case is that a witness planted or invented material. For a prosecutor, it is the charge that answers a deliberate frame-up.

Because the text follows Section 195 of the IPC, research both numbers. The false-evidence chapter is tightly connected, so read Section 231 along with the capital-offence version in Section 230 and the other provisions on fabricating evidence. For how a court records what is proved, see the renumbering issues that run through the new code.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

False-evidence charges lean heavily on case law, because intention and likelihood are drawn from the facts. Claw holds more than 30 crore judgments and returns each search in under 5 seconds, so you can read how courts have applied the old Section 195 and the new Section 231, or follow a live matter through its hearings and orders across the 9,102 courts, benches and forums it tracks.

Claw does not use customer case documents to train its AI models. Open a free Claw account to find a Section 231 matter by party or by the advocate who argued it, and to follow it as it is listed. To search the wider body of decided law, see case search across Indian courts.

08Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the BNS, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
• Section 231, BNS (bare text): devgan.in
• PRS Legislative Research (BNS and IPC comparison): prsindia.org
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The law changes through amendments and judgments, so check the current text and take advice from counsel before you act.

09Frequently asked questions