Indian penal code

Indian Penal Code  (IPC) 

(भारतीय दण्ड संहिता) 

is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code, intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. It was drafted in 1860 and came into force in colonial India during the British Raj in 1862. It has since been amended several times and is now supplemented by other criminal provisions.

After independence, Indian Penal Code was inherited by Pakistan (now called Pakistan Penal Code) and Bangladesh, formerly part of British India. It was also adopted wholesale by the British colonial authorities in Burma,

Sri Lanka,

Malaysia,

Singapore

Brunei, and remains the basis of the criminal codes in those countries.

History

The draft of the Indian Penal Code was prepared by the First Law Commission. It was chaired by Lord Macaulay. Its basis is the law of England freed from superfluities, technicalities and local peculiarities. Suggestions were also derived from the French Penal Code and from Livingstone's Code of Louisiana. The draft underwent a very careful revision at the hands of Sir Barnes Peacock, Chief Justice, and puisne Judges of the Calcutta Supreme Court who were members of the Legislative Council, and was passed into law on Oct 6,1860, unfortunately Macaulay did not survive to see his masterpiece enacted into a law.

The Indian Penal Code was submitted to the Governor-General of India in Council in 1837, but was not until 1860 that it took its place on the Indian Statute Book. Before 1860, The English Criminal Law, as modified by several Acts was administered in the Presidency-Towns of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.

The Code is universally acknowledged as a cogently drafted code ahead of its time It has substantially survived for over 150 years in several jurisdictions without major amendments. Modern crimes involving technology unheard of during Macaulay's time fit easily under the Code mainly because of the vagueness of the Code.

Classification of offences under the code

Indian Penal Code, 1860, covers large types of Offences and they are Classified into following types:

INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860 (Sections 1 to 511)

Chapter	Sections Covered	Classification of Offences
Chapter I	Sections 1 to 5	Introduction
Chapter II	Sections 6 to 52	General Explanations
Chapter III	Sections 53 to 75	of Punishments
Chapter IV	Sections 76 to 106	General Exceptions of the Right of Private Defence (Sections 96 to 106)
Chapter V	Sections 107 to 120	Of Abetment
Chapter VA	Sections 120A to 120B	Criminal Conspiracy Added in 1913
Chapter VI	Sections 121 to 130	Of Offences against the State
Chapter VII	Sections 131 to 140	Of Offences relating to the Army, Navy and Air Force Navy and Air Force: Added in 1927
Chapter VIII	Sections 141 to 160	Of Offences against the Public Tranquillity
Chapter IX	Sections 161 to 171	Of Offences by or relating to Public Servants
Chapter X	Sections 172 to 190	Of Contempts of Lawful Authority of Public Servants
Chapter XI	Sections 191 to 229	Of False Evidence and Offences against Public Justice
Chapter XII	Sections 230 to 263	Of Offences relating to coin and Government Stamps
Chapter XIII	Sections 264 to 267	Of Offences relating to Weight and Measures
Chapter XIV	Sections 268 to 294	Of Offences affecting the Public Health, Safety, Convenience, Decency and Morals
Chapter XV	Sections 295 to 298	Of Offences relating to Religion
Chapter XVI	Sections 299 to 377	Of Offences affecting the Human Body Of Offences Affecting Life including murder, culpable homicide (Sections 299 to 311) Of the Causing of Miscarriage, of Injuries to Unborn Children, of the Exposure of Infants, and of the Concealment of Births (Sections 312 to 318) Of Hurt (Sections 319 to 338) Of Wrongful Restraint and Wrongful Confinement (Sections 339 to 348) Of Criminal Force and Assault (Sections 349 to 358) Of Kidnapping, Abduction, Slavery and Forced Labour (Sections 359 to 374) Sexual Offences including rape (Sections 375 to 376) Of Unnatural Offences (Section 377)
Chapter XVII	Sections 378 to 462	Of Offences Against Property Of Theft (Sections 378 to 382) Of Extortion (Sections 383 to 389) Of Robbery and Dacoity (Sections 390 to 402) Of Criminal Misappropriation of Property (Sections 403 to 404) Of Criminal Breach of Trust (Sections 405 to 409) Of the Receiving of Stolen Property (Sections 410 to 414) Of Cheating (Section 415 to 420) Of Fraudulent Deeds and Disposition of Property (Sections 421 to 424) Of Mischief (Sections 425 to 440) Of Criminal Trespass (Sections 441 to 462)
Chapter XVIII	Sections 463 to 489	Of Offences relating to Documents and Property Marks Of Property and Other Marks (Sections 478 to 489) Of Currency Notes and Bank Notes (Sections 489A to 489E) Added in 1958[1]
Chapter XIX	Sections 490 to 492	Of the Criminal Breach of Contracts of Service
Chapter XX	Sections 493 to 498	Of Offences Relating to Marriage
Chapter XXA	Sections 498A	Of Cruelty by Husband or Relatives of Husband Added in 1983
Chapter XXI	Sections 499 to 502	Of Defamation
Chapter XXII	Sections 503 to 510	Of Criminal intimidation, Insult and Annoyance
Chapter XXIII	Section 511	Of Attempts to Commit Offences

Reforms

1. The section 377 had been used against legitimate rights of sexual minorities in India. This section has been termed as the biggest hurdle in dealing with control of HIV/AIDS in the Country. But the Delhi High Court on 2 July 2009 gave a liberal interpretation to this section and laid down that this section cannot be used to punish the act of consensual sexual(anal) intercourse between two adult males. This was incorrectly termed by many people including reputed media houses as amendment of this section which it was not.The case is pending in Supreme Court since then.
2. Section 309 meets out punishment for an unsuccessful attempt to suicide. Rather than providing suitable counseling, the section prefers to punish the victim.
3. Section 497 deals with adultery, which punishes men even for consensual sex with another persons wife.
4. Many of the Sections in the Indian Penal Code Monetary Fine amounts have become out dated for E.g.- Under Section 188 which is for Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant—Prescribes the fine amount to be only two hundred rupees.-- which in today's India can hardly have any deterrent effect upon any Criminal.

In 2003, the Malimath Committee submitted its report recommending several far-reaching penal reforms including separation of investigation and prosecution (similar to the CPS in the UK) to streamline the clogged up Indian criminal justice system.^[2] .The essence of the report was a perceived need for shift from an adversarial to an inquisitorial criminal justice system, based on the Continental European systems.

Some other recent incidents have again pointed fingers at rewriting the Penal code.These are:-

• Another case which came to light in 2009 thrown light on how the criminal justice system in India could be influenced by the powerful. A higher police officer who molested a minor in 1990 (the minor committed suicide after 3 years due to continuous persecution of her family by the police officer) got away with an imprisonment for just 6 months.

Post by -Abhishek Anand