BNS Section 322: Dishonest or Fraudulent Deeds of Transfer (2026)

Explainer · Property Fraud · BNS

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Section 322 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the new criminal code in force since 1 July 2024, punishes a person who dishonestly or fraudulently signs, executes or becomes a party to a deed that transfers or charges property and contains a false statement. The false statement can be about the consideration, meaning the price or value, or about who the deed is really meant to benefit. In simple words, it targets a sham or dressed-up transfer document. Section 322 carries forward Section 423 of the old Indian Penal Code. This explainer sets out what the section covers, the punishment, the classification, and how it fits with the related property-fraud sections. Last verified October 2026.

01The short point

Section 322 is about lying inside a transfer deed. If a person dishonestly or fraudulently puts his name to a deed that moves property or creates a charge over it, and that deed states a false price, or hides the real person who benefits, he commits an offence.

A common example is a sale deed that records a much lower price than what actually changed hands, or a transfer made to a name-lender while the real buyer stays hidden, done to cheat a creditor, a tax authority or a family member. The offence is in the dishonest false statement in the document, not in the transfer itself.

02What Section 322 covers

The section applies to a person who dishonestly or fraudulently signs, executes or becomes a party to any deed or instrument that purports to transfer, or to subject to a charge, any property or any interest in property, where that deed contains a false statement:

• about the consideration for the transfer or charge; or
• about the person or persons for whose use or benefit the deed is really intended to operate.

You do not need to be the owner to fall within the section. Anyone who signs, executes or becomes a party to the deed can be covered, so a middleman or a co-signatory can be liable too.

03What has to be proved

To make out an offence under Section 322, the prosecution has to show each of these:

• there is a deed or instrument that transfers property or creates a charge over it;
• the accused signed, executed or became a party to that deed;
• the deed contains a false statement about the consideration, or about the real beneficiary; and
• the accused acted dishonestly or fraudulently, that is, with an intent to cause wrongful gain or wrongful loss, or to defraud.

The dishonest or fraudulent intent is the heart of the case. A genuine mistake in a deed, or a lawful under-statement that is not meant to deceive anyone, does not become a crime under this section.

04Punishment and classification

A person convicted under Section 322 of the BNS can be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

Because the offence is non-cognizable, the police usually need the direction of a Magistrate to investigate, and because it is bailable, a person arrested has the right to bail.

05Old to new: IPC 423 to BNS 322

Section 423 of the Indian Penal Code is now Section 322 of the BNS. The wording of the offence is carried over. The main practical change is the maximum sentence, which has gone up from two years under the IPC to three years under the BNS.

Because the substance is the same, judgments decided under Section 423 of the IPC continue to guide how Section 322 of the BNS is read. For a full old-to-new table, see the IPC to BNS section mapping.

06How it sits with nearby sections

Section 322 is part of a small group in the BNS that deals with fraudulent deeds and dishonest handling of property, carried over from Sections 421 to 424 of the IPC.

• Section 321 punishes dishonestly or fraudulently preventing a debt from being available to creditors (old IPC 422).
• Section 322 punishes a fraudulent deed of transfer with a false statement of consideration (old IPC 423).
• Section 323 punishes the dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property (old IPC 424).

These sections often overlap with cheating and breach of trust in a real dispute. If money was taken by deceit, the facts may also attract cheating under Section 318, and if entrusted property was misused, they may attract criminal breach of trust under Section 316. The right charge depends on what the document and the conduct actually show.

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.

Property-fraud cases turn on how courts have read intent and the false statement in a deed. Claw lets you search more than 30 crore judgments to see how Section 322 of the BNS, and the old Section 423 of the IPC, have been applied, with results in under 5 seconds and reported authority running from Supreme Court rulings of 1950 and High Court rulings of 1990 to the latest orders. You can also follow a pending matter, with its orders and hearings, by party or advocate name across 9,102 courts, benches and forums.

Claw does not use the documents you upload to train its AI models. Create a free Claw account to look up how fraudulent-deed cases have been decided and to track a live matter. To search the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

08Sources and further reading

• India Code (official text of the BNS, 2023): indiacode.nic.in
• Section 322, BNS (bare text and classification): devgan.in
• BNS 322 to IPC 423 concordance: prashantkanha.com
• 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.

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