The Law on Counterfeiting of Coins in India
Counterfeiting of coins is basically when a fake coin is produced to replicate a government-issue coin and then is passed off as the real thing. Historic evidence suggests that counterfeiting proliferated as a trade since almost the time that coins themselves, came into existence, bringing forgers ample revenue and monetary gain. Fast forward to the 21st century, where counterfeiting is used more commonly as a means to replicate valuable and rare coins that can be traded for a profit.
Either way, counterfeiting causes economic strife in the public sector and when it comes to private trades, it can lead to frauds causing losses to collectors. To curb this, the Indian Legislature enacted Chapter-XII of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 dealing with 'Offences relating to Coin and Government Stamps.' This post goes into detail about how the various provisions of this Chapter work.
Before we begin, let's first dive into how a 'coin' is defined by the Indian Penal Code 1860 (referred to as "IPC") under Section 230 of the IPC:
- A 'coin' is defined as a "metal used for the time being as money, and stamped and issued by the authority of some State or Sovereign Power in order to be so used"
- An 'Indian coin' is defined as a "metal stamped and issued by the authority of the Government of India in order to be used as money; and metal which has been so stamped and issued shall continue to be Indian coin for the purposes of this Chapter, notwithstanding that it may have ceased to be used as money."
Scheme of Chapter XII- Offences relating to Coins
For ease of reference, we can divide the offences listed in Chapter XII into the following schemes:
A. What is Counterfeiting and how is it punished?;
B. Offences Related to Counterfeiting;
C. Criminal Offences of Mint Employees;
D. Altering the composition of coins and Possession of altered coins;
E. Delivery of altered coins.
Now that we have an basic understanding of the types of coin-related criminal offences that exist in the IPC, we can see what they entail.
A. What is Counterfeiting and How is it Punished?
Under Section 231 of the IPC: A person is said to commit the offence of 'counterfeiting' when he or she intends to practise deception, or knowing it to be likely that deception will thereby be practised, causes a genuine coin to appear like a different coin.
Punishment:
For counterfeiting coins (Section 231): Whoever counterfeits or knowingly performs any part of the process of counterfeiting coin, shall be punished with imprisonment for a period which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
For counterfeiting Indian Coins (Section 232): The punishment for counterfeiting Indian coins is imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
B. Offences Related to Counterfeiting
The offences listed below relate to counterfeiting of coins:
(1) Making, selling or possessing an instrument used for counterfeiting
Indian law also punishes those who are in possession of the instrument used in the counterfeiting process and those that use such any part (or whole) of the instrument, knowing that it would be used for counterfeiting coins.
a) Specifically, the making, mending, buying, selling or disposing of any die or instrument which is used for the purpose counterfeiting coins is punishable in the following manner:
For counterfeiting coins (Section 233)- Imprisonment of a maximum of three years with a fine;
For counterfeiting Indian coins (Section 234)- Imprisonment of a maximum of seven years with a fine.
b) Possession of any instrument or material, for the purpose of using the same for counterfeiting coin, or knowing or having reason to believe that the same is intended to be used for that purpose, shall be punishable in the following manner:
For counterfeiting coins (Section 235) - Imprisonment for a maximum period of upto three (3) years with a fine;
For counterfeiting Indian coins (Section 235)- Imprisonment for a maximum period of upto ten (10) years with a fine.
(2) Abetment of counterfeiting
The IPC also extends criminal liability to those persons in India that abet (aid, assist or encourage) the counterfeiting of coins outside of India. They shall be punished in the same manner, as if they abetted the counterfeiting of such coin within India. In other words, despite the fact that the counterfeiting takes place outside India, the accused person will be punished with the same sentence that he or she would have been punished with if he or she had been convicted under any other section.
(3) Import, export or delivery of counterfeit coins
Any person who imports counterfeit coins into India, or exports counterfeit coins out of India, knowing or having a reason to believe that such coins are counterfeit, shall be punished as follows:
Import/ export of counterfeit coins (Section 237): Imprisonment for a maximum period of three (3) years with fine;
Import/ export of counterfeit Indian coins (Section 238): Imprisonment for a maximum period of ten (10) years with fine.
(4) Possession of counterfeit coins
Any person who, fraudulently or with intent that fraud may be committed, holds possession of a counterfeit coin, with the knowledge that the coin is a counterfeit, shall be punished as follows:
Possession of counterfeit coin (Section 242): Imprisonment for a maximum period of three (3) years with fine;
Possession of counterfeit Indian coins (Section 243): Imprisonment for a maximum period of seven (7) years with fine.
C. Criminal Offences of Mint Employees
Employees of the four existing Indian Government Mints (in Mumbai, Noida, Hyderabad and Kolkata) are legally obligated to manufacture coins in the manner fixed by law. Accordingly, Section 244 of the IPC accords criminal liability to employees of the Indian Government Mints if they cause any coin to be issued from the Mint, which is of a different composition or weight than that mandated by the law. Such a delinquent employee will be punished with imprisonment for a maximum period of seven years and shall pay a fine.
Taking this a step further, under Section 245 of the IPC, employees of the Indian Government Mints are also not allowed to unlawfully take any coining tool or instruments from the Mint. This means, that employees can only take such instruments outside the Mint, if they are doing so in a lawful manner with due lawful authority. A violation of this section is punishable with imprisonment for a maximum period of seven years and shall pay a fine.
D. Altering the Composition of Coins and Possession of Altered Coins
A person who fraudulently or dishonestly diminishes the weight or alters the composition of a coin by performing any operation on that coin, shall be punished. Alteration of the composition of a coin is when a person scoops out part of the coin and puts anything else into the cavity of the coin. The punishment is as follows:
Coin (Section 246) - Imprisonment for a maximum term extending to three (3) years and a fine.
Indian Coin (Section 247)- Imprisonment for a maximum term extending to seven (7) years and a fine.
Taking it a step further, if a person alters the appearance of a coin by performing any operation on it, with the intent that the said coin shall pass as a coin of a different description, that person shall be punished as follows:
Coin (Section 248): Imprisonment for a term which may extend to three (3) years, and also a fine.
Indian coin (Section 249): Imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven (7) years, and shall also be liable to fine.
E. Delivery of Altered Coins
A person who has, in his possession, an altered coin with respect to which an offence has been committed in respect of the provisions mentioned above i.e. Sections 246 and 248 for a Coin and Sections 247 and 249 for an Indian Coin, is punishable if he:
(i) knew at the time when he gained possession of such coin that an offence had been committed with respect to it; or
(ii) fraudulently or with intent that fraud may be committed, delivers such coin to any other person, or attempts to induce any other person to receive the same.
The punishment for such delivery of altered coins is as follows:
Coin (Section 250): Imprisonment for a term which may extend to five (5) years, and fine;
Indian Coin (Section 251): Imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten (10) years, and fine.
********************************************************************************