Whoever, fraudulently or with intent to cause loss to Government, erases or removes from a stamp issued by Government for the purpose of revenue, any mark, put or impressed upon such stamp for the purpose of denoting that the same has been used, or knowingly has in his possession or sells or disposes of any such stamp from which such mark has been erased or removed, or sells or disposes of any such stamp which he knows to have been used, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
IPC Section 263: Simplified Explanation
IPC Section 263 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) deals with the offence of erasing or removing any mark that denotes a stamp has already been used. This section is aimed at preventing the fraudulent reuse of government stamps, which are typically marked or cancelled after their initial use to control their reuse.
Is IPC Section 263 bailable?
No, IPC Section 263 is a non-bailable offence. This means that the accused does not have an automatic right to bail and must apply for bail before a magistrate or judge, who will then decide whether or not to grant bail based on the specifics of the case.
IPC Section 263 Punishment
The punishment for IPC Section 263 is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. This punishment reflects the seriousness of tampering with government stamps, which can lead to significant fraud and loss of revenue for the government.
Example of IPC Section 263
Consider a scenario where a person named Shyam is involved in a fraudulent scheme to reuse government stamps on official documents. Shyam carefully removes the cancellation marks from used stamps using chemicals and other means, making the stamps appear unused. He then sells these altered stamps to individuals who use them on new documents, evading the purchase of new stamps and defrauding the government of stamp duty. The authorities eventually catch on to this scheme and arrest Shyam. Upon investigation, it is revealed that Shyam deliberately erased marks from used stamps to reuse them. In this case, Shyam can be prosecuted under IPC Section 263 for erasing marks denoting that stamps have been used.
