Section 472 CrPC - Continuing Offence and Section 518 BNSS

A continuing offence is one that persists over time rather than being completed by a single act. For such offences, criminal limitation is calculated differently: a fresh period begins throughout the period of continuation.

Section 472 CrPC - Statutory provision

472. Continuing offence. In the case of a continuing offence, a fresh period of limitation shall begin to run at every moment of the time during which the offence continues.

This provision appeared in Chapter XXXVI of the CrPC, concerning limitation for taking cognizance of certain offences. It remains relevant where the repealed CrPC continues to govern proceedings under the savings clause.

Section 518 BNSS - Corresponding current provision

518. Continuing offence. In the case of a continuing offence, a fresh period of limitation shall begin to run at every moment of the time during which the offence continues.

The operative wording is unchanged. The BNSS replaced the CrPC with effect from 1 July 2024, subject to the repeal and savings rules under Section 531. The applicable procedural statute must be identified from the facts and procedural history of the case.

Meaning of a continuing offence

A continuing offence involves a breach that continues from moment to moment because the unlawful state of affairs is maintained. It differs from an offence completed at a particular time whose harmful consequences merely remain afterward.

Whether conduct amounts to a continuing offence depends on the language of the substantive penal provision and the nature of the legal duty. A continuing injury or an unpaid obligation does not, by itself, prove that a criminal offence continues.

How the limitation rule operates

For an offence that legally continues, the limitation clock begins afresh at every moment while the offence persists. This prevents the limitation period from being treated as having expired solely by counting from the first day of an ongoing violation. Once the continuing conduct ends, the ordinary limitation rules become important in determining the last permissible date.

Read this rule with the statutory provisions governing the length and commencement of limitation, exclusions, court closures and extensions. Under the CrPC these include Section 468, Section 469, Section 470, Section 471 and Section 473.

Illustrations and practical application

Ongoing statutory non-compliance: If an applicable penal law makes each day of failure to perform a continuing legal duty an offence, the contravention may continue until compliance. The actual wording of the relevant law must be checked.

Completed act with continuing effects: If an offence is complete on the day a prohibited act occurs, the persistence of its financial or other consequences does not necessarily turn it into a continuing offence.

Repeated separate violations: Multiple independent offences are not automatically one continuing offence. Each alleged violation may require separate consideration of its ingredients and limitation period.

CrPC and BNSS: which law applies?

Section 531(1) BNSS repeals the CrPC. Section 531(2)(a) provides that an appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation pending immediately before commencement of the BNSS is to continue under the CrPC as it stood before commencement. Other savings also apply. Consequently, Section 472 CrPC remains important for saved proceedings, while Section 518 BNSS states the corresponding rule under the new procedural framework.

Official legal references

Key takeaway

Section 472 CrPC and Section 518 BNSS provide the same continuing-offence rule: a fresh limitation period begins throughout the duration of the offence. The decisive question is whether the particular offence truly continues under its governing law, not merely whether its effects continue.

Legal information updated 19 October 2026. This article is general information and does not replace advice on the facts of an individual case.