Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 263
repealedErasure of mark denoting that stamp has been used
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.
Why this exists
Used stamps carry a cancellation mark specifically so they cannot be reused. This section punishes anyone who tries to defeat that safeguard by erasing the mark, and also anyone who deals in such doctored or already-used stamps, closing off the whole trade in fraudulently recycled stamps rather than just the person who first erased the mark. Replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, effective 1 July 2024.