Section 469 BNSS 2023 - Saving

Section 469 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) is a saving provision dealing with the execution of sentences where a person is subject to a former or subsequent conviction. It works with Sections 466 and 467 and also regulates when imprisonment imposed in default of payment of a fine is to take effect in a case involving further substantive sentences of imprisonment.

Current law: The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is Act 46 of 2023. Its provisions came into force on 1 July 2024, except the notified exception concerning the entry relating to Section 106(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in the First Schedule. Section 469 is in force.

Text of Section 469 BNSS - Saving

469. Saving.

(1) Nothing in section 466 or section 467 shall be held to excuse any person from any part of the punishment to which he is liable upon his former or subsequent conviction.

(2) When an award of imprisonment in default of payment of a fine is annexed to a substantive sentence of imprisonment and the person undergoing the sentence is after its execution to undergo a further substantive sentence or further substantive sentences of imprisonment, effect shall not be given to the award of imprisonment in default of payment of the fine until the person has undergone the further sentence or sentences.

Meaning and purpose of Section 469

Section 469 is intended to preserve the full legal effect of punishment arising from different convictions. The rules governing the commencement or sequencing of sentences under Sections 466 and 467 do not operate to wipe out, reduce or excuse any part of the punishment for which the convicted person remains legally liable.

Sub-section (1): punishment under other convictions is preserved

Sub-section (1) makes clear that Sections 466 and 467 do not provide an exemption from punishment arising out of a former or later conviction. In practical terms, rules about when one sentence takes effect must not be treated as cancelling punishment that is otherwise lawfully due.

Sub-section (2): imprisonment in default of fine

Sub-section (2) deals with a specific sequence of imprisonment. If a court has imposed a substantive term of imprisonment together with imprisonment in default of payment of a fine, and after the substantive term the person must undergo another substantive sentence or sentences, the default imprisonment for non-payment of the fine is postponed until those further substantive sentences have been undergone.

How Section 469 relates to Sections 466 and 467

Section 466 deals with when the sentence of an escaped convict is to take effect.
Section 467 deals with the sentence of an offender who is already undergoing a sentence for another offence.
Section 469 acts as a saving rule so that the operation of those provisions does not excuse any part of punishment due under a former or subsequent conviction.

Corresponding provision under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Section 469 BNSS corresponds to Section 429 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The subject and operative rule have been carried forward into the BNSS framework, with the cross-references renumbered to the corresponding BNSS provisions.

Practical effect

The provision is principally relevant at the stage of execution and sequencing of sentences. It prevents the sentencing rules in Sections 466 and 467 from being misunderstood as a release from liability under another conviction, and it establishes the order in which default imprisonment for non-payment of a fine is to operate where further substantive imprisonment remains to be served.

Note: This page is for general legal information. For application of Section 469 to a particular conviction, sentence, fine or warrant, the relevant judgment and sentencing order should be examined.