This law only applies to big criminal organisations like mafias.

It actually targets small-scale, 'petty' organised crimes like pickpocketing gangs or exam paper leaks, not large crime syndicates (which are covered elsewhere in the BNS).

A single person acting alone can never be charged under this section.

The law says a member of a group can commit the act 'singly or jointly' — so one member acting alone, as part of the group's activity, can still be charged.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 112

Petty organised crime

(1) Whoever, being a member of a group or gang, either singly or jointly, commits any act of theft, snatching, cheating, unauthorised selling of tickets, unauthorised betting or gambling, selling of public examination question papers or any other similar criminal act, is said to commit petty organised crime. Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section “theft” includes trick theft, theft from vehicle, dwelling house or business premises, cargo theft, pick pocketing, theft through card skimming, shoplifting and theft of Automated Teller Machine.§

(2) Whoever commits any petty organised crime shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.§

Why this exists

Before the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023), Indian law had strong provisions for big organised crime (like the special laws in Maharashtra, Karnataka, etc. targeting mafia-style syndicates) but no dedicated provision for smaller, everyday organised crimes such as pickpocket gangs, ATM theft rings, exam paper leak networks, or petty cheating groups operating repeatedly and in coordination. Lawmakers introduced Section 112 to specifically criminalise and punish such low-level but persistent group crime, which often affects ordinary citizens in daily life (public transport theft, exam fraud, illegal betting rackets) but previously was only prosecuted under generic theft or cheating provisions with lighter consequences.

Common misconceptions

Myth: This law only applies to big criminal organisations like mafias.
Fact: It actually targets small-scale, 'petty' organised crimes like pickpocketing gangs or exam paper leaks, not large crime syndicates (which are covered elsewhere in the BNS).
Myth: A single person acting alone can never be charged under this section.
Fact: The law says a member of a group can commit the act 'singly or jointly' — so one member acting alone, as part of the group's activity, can still be charged.