This law only applies to big property auctions, not small government sales.

The law applies to any sale of property conducted under the lawful authority of a public servant, regardless of the property's size or value.

You can avoid liability by having someone else bid for you, even if you're barred from buying.

If the person bidding on your behalf knows you're legally barred from purchasing, they can be held liable under this section for bidding on your account.

Bidding without paying afterward is just a civil issue, not a criminal one.

If someone bids without ever intending to fulfill the obligations of that bid, this section treats it as a criminal offense, not merely a private contractual failure.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Section 220

Illegal purchase or bid for property offered for sale by authority of public servant

Whoever, at any sale of property held by the lawful authority of a public servant, as such, purchases or bids for any property on account of any person, whether himself or any other, whom he knows to be under a legal incapacity to purchase that property at that sale, or bids for such property not intending to perform the obligations under which he lays himself by such bidding, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both.§

Why this exists

This provision (carried forward from Section 169 of the old Indian Penal Code) protects the integrity of official sales—such as court auctions or government-ordered property sales—by preventing people from gaming the process. Public sales often exclude certain buyers (for example, an insolvent debtor might be barred from buying back his own auctioned property, or officials conducting the sale may be barred from bidding). The law also stops people from making fake bids they never intend to honor, which can disrupt the sale, discourage genuine bidders, or manipulate the final price.

Common misconceptions

Myth: This law only applies to big property auctions, not small government sales.
Fact: The law applies to any sale of property conducted under the lawful authority of a public servant, regardless of the property's size or value.
Myth: You can avoid liability by having someone else bid for you, even if you're barred from buying.
Fact: If the person bidding on your behalf knows you're legally barred from purchasing, they can be held liable under this section for bidding on your account.
Myth: Bidding without paying afterward is just a civil issue, not a criminal one.
Fact: If someone bids without ever intending to fulfill the obligations of that bid, this section treats it as a criminal offense, not merely a private contractual failure.