General Provisions
Defines around 39 terms used throughout the Sanhita, including: "child" (under 18), "counterfeit", "dishonestly" (intent to cause wrongful gain/loss), "document" (including electronic/digital records), "fraudulently" (intent to defraud), "good faith" (done with due care and attention), "harbour", "movable property", "public servant" (a detailed list covering judges, government officers, election officials, and government-company employees, among others), "valuable security", "voluntarily", "woman" (a female of any age), and "wrongful gain"/"wrongful loss".
This is the BNS's master glossary, precisely defining key legal terms used throughout the code - several of which (like "dishonestly" and "fraudulently") are central to understanding fraud and cheating offences specifically, since the exact legal meaning of intent-related terms often determines whether conduct actually meets the definition of a crime.
The precise definitions of "dishonestly" (intending wrongful gain or wrongful loss) and "fraudulently" (intending to defraud) are exactly what courts use to distinguish a genuine scam from, say, an honest business failure or a civil contract dispute - the presence or absence of this specific dishonest/fraudulent intent is often the deciding factor in whether a scam victim's case can succeed as a criminal complaint.