BNS Section 344: Falsification of accounts
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 · Chapter 18: Of Offences Relating to Documents and to Property Marks - Of property marks
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¶344. Whoever, being a clerk, officer or servant, or employed or acting in the capacity of a clerk, officer or servant, wilfully, and with intent to defraud, destroys, alters, mutilates or falsifies any book, electronic record, paper, writing, valuable security or account which belongs to or is in the possession of his employer, or has been received by him for or on behalf of his employer, or wilfully, and with intent to defraud, makes or abets the making of any false entry in, or omits or alters or abets the omission or alteration of any material particular from or in, any such book, electronic record, paper, writing, valuable security or account, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both. Explanation.—It shall be sufficient in any charge under this section to allege a general intent to defraud without naming any particular person intended to be defrauded or specifying any particular sum of money intended to be the subject of the fraud, or any particular day on which the offence was committed. Of property marks
Study: explanations and related material
Replaces IPC 477A. IPC → BNS converterSource: BPR&D BNS–IPC corresponding section table (UP Police, 2024-06-28)
Punishment, bail and trial
344Falsification of accounts.
- Punishment
- Imprisonment for 7 years, or fine, or both.
- Cognizable or not
- Non‑cognizable
- Bailable or not
- Bailable
- Triable by
- Magistrate of the first class
Source: BNSS First Schedule, Gazette of India, 25 December 2023, p. 187. The Schedule gives the substance of the section, not its full definition, and a State may have amended the classification for its territory. See it in the full First Schedule
Official reference: Ministry of Home Affairs: Gazette text, 25 December 2023 — source link checked: 2 October 2026.Recorded edition / snapshot date: 2024-07-01.Mobile-app reference import; the recorded snapshot date is not a fresh legal-currency guarantee. The linked government text is an independent authoritative reference, not certification that this website reproduces the same edition. The source link was checked, not every provision or subsequent amendment. Check commencement notifications, savings and jurisdiction-specific variations separately.
This text is for reference, not legal advice. Consult the official source for the authoritative text.
Other sections in this chapter
- 335. Making a false document
- 336. Forgery
- 337. Forgery of the record of a Court or of a public register, etc
- 338. Forgery of a valuable security, will, etc
- 339. Having possession of a document described in section 337 or section 338, knowing it to be forged and intending to use it as genuine
- 340. Forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine
- 341. Making or possessing a counterfeit seal, etc., with intent to commit forgery punishable under section 338
- 342. Counterfeiting a device or mark used for authenticating documents described in section 338, or possessing counterfeit marked material
- 343. Fraudulent cancellation, destruction, etc., of a will, authority to adopt, or valuable security
- 345. Property mark
- 346. Tampering with a property mark with the intent to cause injury
- 347. Counterfeiting a property mark
- 348. Making or possession of any instrument for counterfeiting a property mark
- 349. Selling goods marked with a counterfeit property mark
- 350. Making a false mark upon any receptacle containing goods