# Cheating (Fraud): Section 420 PPC

What the Pakistan Penal Code actually says about cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery
of property — quoted from the section, not paraphrased.

## The section, as retrieved

> 420. Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property: Whoever cheats and thereby
> dishonestly induces the person deceived to deliver any property to any person, or to make,
> alter or destroy the whole or any part of a valuable security, or anything which is signed
> or sealed, and which is capable of being converted into a valuable security, shall be
> punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven
> years, and shall also be liable to fine.
>
> — Pakistan Penal Code, Chapter XVII, Section 420. Retrieved from the corpus indexed by FAI
> Legal Research Assistant. Unverified for currency or amendment — confirm against an
> official or recently updated source before relying on it.

## What this means

Section 420 — the section Pakistanis colloquially mean by "a four twenty" — is an aggravated
form of cheating. Ordinary cheating is defined and punished under earlier sections (415, 417)
of the same Chapter; Section 420 applies where the cheating goes further and dishonestly
induces the victim to actually hand over property, or to make, alter, or destroy a valuable
security. That extra element carries the heavier punishment: up to seven years plus a fine.

## What this page does not cover

- The definition of "cheating" (Section 415) and the general punishment without property
  delivery (Section 417).
- Related property offences — see [theft](https://failegal.site/theft-punishment-pakistan)
  and [criminal breach of trust](https://failegal.site/breach-of-trust-pakistan), legally
  distinct even though a layperson may call all three "fraud."
- Amendments made after this text was indexed.

## Frequently asked

**Is all cheating punished under Section 420?** No. Plain cheating without inducing property
delivery is punished under Section 417 with a lighter sentence. Section 420 requires that
additional element.

**Is fraud the same offence as theft or criminal breach of trust?** No. Cheating, theft, and
criminal breach of trust are three legally distinct offences with different elements.

- [Theft](https://failegal.site/theft-punishment-pakistan)
- [Criminal breach of trust](https://failegal.site/breach-of-trust-pakistan)