Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 255
repealedCounterfeiting Government stamp
Whoever counterfeits, or knowingly performs any part of the process of counterfeiting, any stamp issued by Government for the purpose of revenue shall be punished with 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.
Why this exists
Government stamps on documents (like court-fee stamps and stamp papers used for legal agreements) are how the state collects revenue and certifies that a required duty has been paid. Faking them cheats the government of this revenue and undermines the authenticity of important legal documents, so the law treats it almost as seriously as counterfeiting currency. Note: replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, effective 1 July 2024.
How courts read it
This section, along with related stamp offences, became widely known through the large stamp-paper forgery racket uncovered in India in the early 2000s, where fake and reused revenue stamp papers worth thousands of crores of rupees were sold across several states. Investigators and courts treated the wide-scale production and circulation of counterfeit stamp papers as squarely covered by this kind of provision, alongside related charges of cheating and forgery.