Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 · Chapter XVIII: The Charge · B.—Joinder of charges
Section 242: Offences of same kind within year may be charged together
In plain words
A person accused of several offences of the same kind committed within twelve months, from the first to the last, against the same or different people, can be charged and tried together for up to five of them.
- Offences are of the same kind when they carry the same punishment under the same section of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 or a special or local law.
- Theft and theft in a dwelling or of a vehicle count as the same kind, and so do an offence and an attempt to commit it.
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
(1) When a person is accused of more offences than one of the same kind committed within the space of twelve months from the first to the last of such offences, whether in respect of the same person or not, he may be charged with, and tried at one trial for, any number of them not exceeding five.
(2) Offences are of the same kind when they are punishable with the same amount of punishment under the same section of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 or of any special or local law:
Provided that for the purposes of this section, an offence punishable under sub-section (2) of section 303 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 shall be deemed to be an offence of the same kind as an offence punishable under section 305 of the said Sanhita, and that an offence punishable under any section of the said Sanhita, or of any special or local law, shall be deemed to be an offence of the same kind as an attempt to commit such offence, when such an attempt is an offence.
Corresponding sections were matched by comparing the wording of both official texts, and for the IPC and BNS, also against a published correspondence table. Wording, punishments and structure often changed, so read both sections before relying on the match.
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 12 September 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 242
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.