Offence checker: Chapter XVII, Of offences against property

Section 316, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Criminal breach of trust.

This is the BNS section 316. If you meant IPC section 316, it corresponds to BNS 92.

First Schedule of the BNSS, Gazette page 183. 4 rows.

Section 316(2)

Cognizable Non-bailable Compoundable with the Court's permission

Offence

“Criminal breach of trust.”

Punishment

“Imprisonment for 5 years, or fine, or both.” An indication of the section's substance only (the Schedule's note 1): the section itself prescribes the punishment.

Cognisable

“Cognizable.”

Bailable

“Non-bailable.”

Triable by

“Magistrate of the first class.”

Compoundable

Yes, with the permission of the Court before which the prosecution is pending, by “The owner of the property in respect of which breach of trust has been committed.” (s.359(2) Table, page 111: section 316(2), “Criminal breach of trust.”)

Source

BNSS First Schedule, Gazette page 183

Section 316(3)

Cognizable Non-bailable Compoundable

Offence

“Criminal breach of trust by a carrier, wharfinger, etc.”

Punishment

“Imprisonment for 7 years and fine.” An indication of the section's substance only (the Schedule's note 1): the section itself prescribes the punishment.

Cognisable

“Cognizable.”

Bailable

“Non-bailable.”

Triable by

“Magistrate of the first class.”

Compoundable

Yes, by “The owner of the property in respect of which the breach of trust has been committed.” (s.359(1) Table, page 109: section 316(3), “Criminal breach of trust by a carrier, wharfinger, etc.”)

Source

BNSS First Schedule, Gazette page 183

Section 316(4)

Cognizable Non-bailable Compoundable with the Court's permission

Offence

“Criminal breach of trust by a clerk or servant.”

Punishment

“Imprisonment for 7 years and fine.” An indication of the section's substance only (the Schedule's note 1): the section itself prescribes the punishment.

Cognisable

“Cognizable.”

Bailable

“Non-bailable.”

Triable by

“Magistrate of the first class.”

Compoundable

Yes, with the permission of the Court before which the prosecution is pending, by “The owner of the property in respect of which the breach of trust has been committed.” (s.359(2) Table, page 111: section 316(4), “Criminal breach of trust by a clerk or servant.”)

Source

BNSS First Schedule, Gazette page 183

Section 316(5)

Cognizable Non-bailable

Offence: “Criminal breach of trust by public servant or by banker, merchant or agent, etc.”
Punishment: “Imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for 10 years and fine.” An indication of the section's substance only (the Schedule's note 1): the section itself prescribes the punishment.
Cognisable: “Cognizable.”
Bailable: “Non-bailable.”
Triable by: “Magistrate of the first class.”
Compoundable: Not listed in the Tables of section 359. Section 359(9): “No offence shall be compounded except as provided by this section.” Section 359(3) also lets the abetment of, or an attempt to commit, a compoundable offence be compounded.
Source: BNSS First Schedule, Gazette page 183

IPC equivalent

BNS	IPC section	Change
316(1)	405	changed
316(2)	406	changed
316(3)	407	same
316(4)	408	same
316(5)	409	same

More than one IPC section corresponds to this section; each is listed against its part.

From the Bureau of Police Research and Development's correspondence table. The punishment, classification or wording may differ between the IPC section and the BNS one: classifications under the old Code were set by its own First Schedule.

About compounding (section 359)

Section 359(1): “The offences punishable under the sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 specified in the first two columns of the Table next following may be compounded by the persons mentioned in the third column of that Table”. Section 359(2): “The offences punishable under the sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 specified in the first two columns of the Table next following may, with the permission of the Court before which any prosecution for such offence is pending, be compounded by the persons mentioned in the third column of that Table”.

Section 359(3): “When an offence is compoundable under this section, the abetment of such offence or an attempt to commit such offence (when such attempt is itself an offence) or where the accused is liable under sub-section (5) of section 3 or section 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, may be compounded in like manner.”

Section 359(7): “No offence shall be compounded if the accused is, by reason of a previous conviction, liable either to enhanced punishment or to a punishment of a different kind for such offence.”

Section 359(9): “No offence shall be compounded except as provided by this section.”

Source

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (No. 46 of 2023), Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 1, No. 54, 25 December 2023: First Schedule, pages 158-189; section 359 Tables, pages 108-111. Copy from the e-Gazette, https://egazette.gov.in/WriteReadData/2023/250884.pdf (retrieved 2026-10-28). Chapters from The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (No. 45 of 2023), Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 1, No. 53, 25 December 2023, https://egazette.gov.in/WriteReadData/2023/250883.pdf. IPC equivalents from the Bureau of Police Research and Development (Ministry of Home Affairs), correspondence table BNS to IPC, as read by the statute map (SCRUM-185), https://bprd.mha.gov.in/uploads/pdf/COMPARISON%20SUMMARY%20BNS%20to%20IPC%20.pdf.

The Schedule's words are shown as printed, joined across lines. The Schedule's own note: “(1) In regard to offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the entries in the second and third columns against a section the number of which is given in the first column are not intended as the definition of, and the punishment prescribed for, the offence in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, but merely as indication of the substance of the section.” (2) In this Schedule, (i) the expression "Magistrate of the first class" and "any Magistrate" does not include Executive Magistrates; (ii) the word "cognizable" stands for "a police officer may arrest without warrant"; and (iii) the word "non-cognizable" stands for "a police officer shall not arrest without warrant".

Not legal advice. This is the First Schedule and section 359 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 as published in the Gazette of India on 25 December 2023, not legal advice. We have not checked later amendments, State amendments or notifications, or how courts have read these entries. Check the Act before you rely on it.