LawpatraLawpatra.ai

Lawpatra is an AI-powered legal education platform designed to help aspirants crack premier law entrance and judiciary examinations. With adaptive mock tests, precision analytics, and 24/7 personalized AI tutoring, we provide a comprehensive ecosystem for your entire legal career journey.

Test series on the goGoogle Play

Explore

  • Prepare for our exams
  • Bare Acts
  • Blog
  • Download resources

Company

  • About
  • Careers
  • Contact us

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Account deletion

Product

  • AI Tutor
  • Features
  • How it works

Law Entrances

  • CLAT
  • CLAT PG
  • AILET
  • SLAT
  • MH CET Law

Judiciary

  • MPSC Civil Judge
  • Chhattisgarh Judiciary
  • OPSC Civil Judge
  • Gujarat Judiciary
  • Delhi Judicial Services
  • UP PCS-J
  • Rajasthan Judiciary Service

APO/ADPO

  • Bihar APO
  • Delhi APP
  • Haryana ADA
  • Madhya Pradesh ADPO
  • Rajasthan APO
  • Uttar Pradesh APO
  • Uttarakhand APO

Bare Acts

  • BNS
  • BNSS
  • BSA
  • IPC
  • CrPC
  • IEA
  • HMA
  • IDA
  • MVA

© 2026 Blingwork Technologies Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Offices: Hyderabad & Jodhpur

LawpatraLawpatra
IPC, 1860
Start Practicing
IPCChapter IISection 40
Section40

“Offence”

AI Assist

Summary

Ordinarily, 'offence' means something punishable by the IPC. In certain chapters and listed sections, 'offence' can also mean an act punishable under any special or local law. For a further group of listed sections, 'offence' covers a special or local law only when that law prescribes imprisonment of six months or more.

Example

Meera is accused of violating a municipal business rule that also fits within one of the listed IPC provisions. Because that provision treats 'offence' to include breaches of special or local laws, authorities may charge her under the Code for the municipal violation. If the municipal penalty involved less than six months and the provision only applies when imprisonment is six months or more, the Code would not cover it.

Bare Act

Enacted text

Except in the Chapters and sections mentioned in clauses 2 and 3 of this section, the word “offence” denotes a thing made punishable by this Code.

In Chapter IV, Chapter VA and in the following sections, namely, sections 64, 65, 66, 67, 71, 109, 110, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 187, 194, 195, 203, 211, 213, 214, 221, 222, 223, 224,225, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 347, 348, 388, 389 and 445, the word “offence” denotes a thing punishable under this Code, or under any special or local law as hereinafter defined.

And in sections 141, 176, 177, 201, 202, 212, 216 and 441, the word “offence” has the same meaning when the thing punishable under the special or local law is punishable under such law with imprisonment for a term of six months or upwards, whether with or without fine.

Keep going
Newsletter

Join the top 1% of law aspirants

Get weekly high-yield legal updates, landmark judgment breakdowns, and smart prep strategies sent straight to your inbox.

We never share your email.

Previous year papers

Pick your exam. we'll email the most recent paper.

Download previous year papers

For

We'll never share your email. Promise.

II

Chapter II

General Explanations

In this chapter

  • 6Definitions in the Code to be understood subject to exceptions
  • 7Sense of expression once explained
  • 8Gender
  • 9Number
  • 10“Man” “Woman”
  • 11“Person”
  • 12“Public”
  • 13Definition of “Queen”
  • 14“Servant of Government”
  • 15Definition of “British India”
  • 16Definition of “Government of India”
  • 17“Government”
  • 18“India”
  • 19“Judge”
  • 20“Court of Justice”
  • 21“Public servant”
  • 22“Movable property”
  • 23“Wrongful gain”
  • 24“Dishonestly”
  • 25“Fraudulently”
  • 26“Reason to believe”
  • 27Property in possession of wife, clerk or servant
  • 28“Counterfeit”
  • 29“Document”
  • 29A“Electronic record”
  • 30“Valuable security”
  • 31“A will”
  • 32Words referring to acts include illegal omissions
  • 33“Act”. “Omission”
  • 34Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention -
  • 35When such an act is criminal by reason of its being done with a criminal knowledge or intention
  • 36Effect caused partly by act and partly by omission
  • 37Co-operation by doing one of several acts constituting an offence
  • 38Persons concerned in criminal Act may be guilty of different offences
  • 39“Voluntarily”
  • 40“Offence”
  • 41“Special law”
  • 42“Local law”
  • 43“Illegal”, “Legally bound to do”
  • 44“Injury”
  • 45“Life”
  • 46“Death”
  • 47“Animal”
  • 48“Vessel”
  • 49“Year”, “Month”
  • 50“Section”
  • 51“Oath”
  • 52“Good faith”
  • 52A“Harbour”
Previous · Section 39“Voluntarily”Next · Section 41“Special law”