Indian Penal Code, 1860
Fraudulently or dishonestly diminishing weight or altering composition of coin. —
Section
246
Punishment
Imprisonment up to Three Year(s) + Fine
Cognizable
Cognizable
Bailable
Non-bailable
Compoundable
Non-Compoundable (Refer to CrPC 320 for exceptions)
Trial Court
Magistrate First Class
Bare Act Text
246. Fraudulently or dishonestly diminishing weight or altering composition of coin. —
Whoever fraudulently or dishonestly performs on any coin any operation which diminishes the weight or alters the composition of that coin, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine.Explanation. — A person who scoops out part of the coin and puts anything else into the cavity alters the composition of that coin.
Editor-in-Chief Pramod
Pramod is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of StudyHub. He holds a Master's degree and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Geology, alongside more than 7+ years spent building and verifying competitive exam content for Indian aspirants. He leads StudyHub's editorial process across Indian Polity, the Constitution, Indian Economy, History, Geography, Science, and the platform's other subject areas — checking every article against primary sources (bare act text and Gazette notifications for constitutional topics, government and Economic Survey data for economy content, standard reference material elsewhere) and flagging it for re-verification whenever a relevant amendment, policy, or data update makes an earlier version outdated.