The Indian Penal Code, 1860 | |
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Imperial Legislative Council | |
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Citation | Act No. 45 of 1860 |
Territorial extent | India |
Enacted by | Imperial Legislative Council |
Enacted | 6 October 1860 |
Assented to | 6 October 1860 |
Commenced | 1 January 1862 |
Committee report | First Law Commission |
Amended by | |
see Amendments | |
Related legislation | |
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 | |
Status: Repealed |
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) was the official criminal code in the Republic of India, inherited from British India after independence, until it was replaced by Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in December 2023. It was a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of the first Law Commission of India established in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 under the chairmanship of Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay. [1] [2] [3] It came into force on the subcontinent during the British rule in 1862. However, it did not apply automatically in the Princely states, which had their own courts and legal systems until the 1940s. The code has since been amended several times and is now supplemented by other criminal provisions.
On 11 August 2023, the Government introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the Indian Penal Code with a draft Code called the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). [4]
The draft of the Indian Penal Code was prepared by the First Law Commission, chaired by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1834 and was submitted to Governor-General of India Council in 1835. Based on a simplified codification of the law of England at the time, elements were also derived from the Napoleonic Code and Edward Livingston's Louisiana Civil Code of 1825. The first final draft of the Indian Penal Code was submitted to the Governor-General of India in Council in 1837, but the draft was again revised. The drafting was completed in 1850 and the code was presented to the Legislative Council in 1856, but it did not take its place on the statute book of British India until a generation later, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The draft then underwent a very careful revision at the hands of Barnes Peacock, who later became the first chief justice of the Calcutta High Court, and the future puisne judges of the Calcutta High Court, who were members of the Legislative Council, and was passed into law on 6 October 1860. [5] The code came into operation on 1 January 1862. Lord Macaulay did not survive to see the penal code he wrote come into force, having died near the end of 1859. The code came into force in Jammu and Kashmir on 31 October 2019, by virtue of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, and replaced the state's Ranbir Penal Code. [6]
The objective of this Act is to provide a general penal code for India. [7] Though not the initial objective, the Act does not repeal the penal laws which were in force at the time of coming into force in India. This was done because the code does not contain all the offences and it was possible that some offences might have still been left out of the code, which were not intended to be exempted from penal consequences. Though this code consolidates the whole of the law on the subject and is exhaustive on the matters in respect of which it declares the law, many more penal statutes governing various offences have been created in addition to the code.
The Indian Penal Code of 1860, subdivided into 23 chapters, comprises 511 sections. The code starts with an introduction, provides explanations and exceptions used in it, and covers a wide range of offences. The Outline is presented in the following table: [8]
Chapter | Sections covered | Classification of offences |
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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 |
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 |
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 IXA | Sections 171A to 171I | Of Offences Relating to Elections |
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.
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Chapter XVII | Sections 378 to 462 | Of Offences Against Property
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Chapter XVIII | Section 463 to 489 -E | Offences relating to Documents and Property Marks
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Chapter XIX | Sections 490 to 492 | Of the Criminal Breach of Contracts of Service |
Chapter XX | Sections 493 to 498 | Of Offences related to marriage |
Chapter XXA | Sections 498A | Of Cruelty by Husband or Relatives of Husband |
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 |
A detailed list of all IPC laws which include above is here. [9]
Whoever, voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment of life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section. [10]
The Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code deals with suicide attempts, whereby attempting to die by suicide is punishable with imprisonment of up to one year. Considering long-standing demand and recommendations of the Law Commission of India, which has repeatedly endorsed the repeal of this section, the Government of India in December 2014 decided to decriminalise attempts to die by suicide by dropping Section 309 of the IPC from the statute book. In February 2015, the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice was asked by the Government to prepare a draft Amendment Bill in this regard. [15]
In an August 2015 ruling, the Rajasthan High Court made the Jain practice of undertaking voluntary death by fasting at the end of a person's life, known as Santhara, punishable under sections 306 and 309 of the IPC. This led to some controversy, with some sections of the Jain community urging the Prime Minister to move the Supreme Court against the order. [16] [17] On 31 August 2015, the Supreme Court admitted the petition by Akhil Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Parishad and granted leave. It stayed the decision of the High Court and lifted the ban on the practice.
In 2017 the new Mental Healthcare Act of India was signed. Section 115(1) of the act effectively decriminalised suicide, saying "anyone who attempts suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code."
The Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code has been criticised on the one hand for allegedly treating women as the private property of her husband, and on the other hand for giving women complete protection against punishment for adultery. [18] [19] This section was unanimously struck down on 27 September 2018 by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in case of Joseph Shine v. Union of India as being unconstitutional and demeaning to the dignity of women. Adultery continues to be a ground for seeking divorce in a Civil Court, but is no longer a criminal offence in India.
Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (war against the Government of India), 132 (mutiny), 194 (false evidence to procure conviction for a capital offence), 302, 303 (murder, has been declared unconstitutional in the case of Mittu Singh vs State of Punjab), 305 (abetting suicide), 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 396 (dacoity with murder), 376A (rape), 376AB (rape on woman under twelve years of age), 376DB (gang rape on woman under twelve years of age), and 376E (repeat offender) have the death penalty as a maximum allowable punishment. There is ongoing debate about abolishing capital punishment. [20] Still major activists are debating on this topic.
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 criminal justice system. [21] The essence of the report was a perceived need for a shift from an adversarial to an inquisitorial criminal justice system, based on the Continental European systems.
The code has been amended several times. [22] [23]
S. No. | Short title of amending legislation | No. | Year |
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1 | The Repealing Act, 1870 | 14 | 1870 |
2 | The Indian Penal Code Amendment Act, 1870 | 27 | 1870 |
3 | The Indian Penal Code Amendment Act, 1872 | 19 | 1872 |
4 | The Indian Oaths Act, 1873 | 10 | 1873 |
5 | The Indian Penal Code Amendment Act, 1882 | 8 | 1882 |
6 | The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1882 | 10 | 1882 |
7 | The Indian Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1886 | 10 | 1886 |
8 | The Indian Marine Act, 1887 | 14 | 1887 |
9 | The Metal Tokens Act, 1889 | 1 | 1889 |
10 | The Indian Merchandise Marks Act, 1889 | 4 | 1889 |
11 | The Cantonments Act, 1889 | 13 | 1889 |
12 | The Indian Railways Act, 1890 | 9 | 1890 |
13 | The Indian Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1891 | 10 | 1891 |
14 | The Amending Act, 1891 | 12 | 1891 |
15 | The Indian Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1894 | 3 | 1894 |
16 | The Indian Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1895 | 3 | 1895 |
17 | The Indian Penal Code Amendment Act, 1896 | 6 | 1896 |
18 | The Indian Penal Code Amendment Act, 1898 | 4 | 1898 |
19 | The Currency-Notes Forgery Act, 1899 | 12 | 1899 |
20 | The Indian Penal Code Amendment Act, 1910 | 3 | 1910 |
21 | The Indian Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1913 | 8 | 1913 |
22 | The Indian Elections Offences and Inquiries Act, 1920 | 39 | 1920 |
23 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1921 | 16 | 1921 |
24 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1923 | 20 | 1923 |
25 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1924 | 5 | 1924 |
26 | The Indian Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1924 | 18 | 1924 |
27 | The Workmen's Breach of Contract (Repealing) Act, 1925 | 3 | 1925 |
29 | The Obscene Publications Act, 1925 | 8 | 1925 |
29 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1925 | 29 | 1925 |
30 | The Repealing and Amending Act, 1927 | 10 | 1927 |
31 | The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1927 | 25 | 1927 |
32 | The Repealing and Amending Act, 1930 | 8 | 1930 |
33 | The Indian Air Force Act, 1932 | 14 | 1932 |
34 | The Amending Act, 1934 | 35 | 1934 |
35 | The Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937 | — | 1937 |
36 | The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1939 | 22 | 1939 |
37 | The Offences on Ships and Aircraft Act, 1940 | 4 | 1940 |
38 | The Indian Merchandise Marks (Amendment) Act, 1941 | 2 | 1941 |
39 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1942 | 8 | 1942 |
40 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1943 | 6 | 1943 |
41 | The Indian Independence (Adaptation of Central Acts and Ordinances) Order, 1948 | — | 1948 |
42 | The Criminal Law (Removal of Racial Discriminations) Act, 1949 | 17 | 1949 |
43 | The Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1949 | 42 | 1949 |
44 | The Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950 | — | 1950 |
45 | The Repealing and Amending Act, 1950 | 35 | 1950 |
46 | The Part B States (Laws) Act, 1951 | 3 | 1951 |
47 | The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1952 | 46 | 1952 |
48 | The Repealing and Amending Act, 1952 | 48 | 1952 |
49 | The Repealing and Amending Act, 1953 | 42 | 1953 |
50 | The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1955 | 26 | 1955 |
51 | The Adaptation of Laws (No.2) Order, 1956 | — | 1956 |
52 | The Repealing and Amending Act, 1957 | 36 | 1957 |
53 | The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1958 | 2 | 1958 |
54 | The Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 | 43 | 1958 |
55 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1959 | 52 | 1959 |
56 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1961 | 41 | 1961 |
57 | The Anti-Corruption Laws (Amendment) Act, 1964 | 40 | 1964 |
58 | The Criminal and Election Laws Amendment Act, 1969 | 35 | 1969 |
59 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1969 | 36 | 1969 |
60 | The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1972 | 31 | 1972 |
61 | The Employees' Provident Funds and Family Pension Fund (Amendment) Act, 1973 | 40 | 1973 |
62 | The Employees' State Insurance (Amendment) Act, 1975 | 38 | 1975 |
63 | The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 1975 | 40 | 1975 |
64 | The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1983 | 43 | 1983 |
65 | The Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act, 1983 | 46 | 1983 |
66 | The Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1986 | 43 | 1986 |
67 | The Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act, 1988 | 33 | 1988 |
68 | The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 | 49 | 1988 |
69 | The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1993 | 42 | 1993 |
70 | The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Act, 1995 | 24 | 1995 |
71 | The Information Technology Act, 2000 | 21 | 2000 |
72 | The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2003 | 24 | 2003 |
73 | The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2005 | 25 | 2005 |
74 | The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2005 | 2 | 2006 |
75 | The Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 | 10 | 2009 |
76 | The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 | 13 | 2013 |
77 | The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 | 22 | 2018 |
78 | The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 | 34 | 2019 |
The code is universally acknowledged as a cogently drafted code, ahead of its time[ citation needed ]. It has substantially survived for over 150 years in several jurisdictions without major amendments. Nicholas Phillips, Justice of Supreme Court of United Kingdom applauded the efficacy and relevance of IPC while commemorating 150 years of IPC. [24] Modern crimes involving technology unheard of during Macaulay's time fit easily within the code[ citation needed ] mainly because of the broadness of the code's drafting.
Some references to specific sections (called dafā/dafa'a in Hindi-Urdu, دفعہ or दफ़ा/दफ़आ) of the IPC have entered popular speech in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. For instance, con men are referred to as 420s (chaar-sau-bees in Hindi-Urdu) after Section 420 which covers cheating. [25] Similarly, specific reference to section 302 ("tazīrāt-e-Hind dafā tīn-sau-do ke tehet sazā-e-maut", "punishment of death under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code"), which covers the death penalty, have become part of common knowledge in the region due to repeated mentions of it in Bollywood movies and regional pulp literature. [26] [27] Dafa 302 was also the name of a Bollywood movie released in 1975. [28] Similarly, Shree 420 was the name of a 1955 Bollywood movie starring Raj Kapoor. [29] and Chachi 420 was a Bollywood movie released in 1997 starring Kamal Haasan. [30]
A criminal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might be imposed for these offences, and some general provisions.
Section 377A was a Singaporean law that criminalised sex between consenting adult males. It was introduced under British colonial rule in 1938 when it was added to the Penal Code by the colonial government. It remained a part of the Singapore body of law after the Penal Code review of 2007 which removed most of the other provisions in Section 377. It was subsequently repealed in its entirety in 2023.
Section 377 of the British colonial penal code criminalized all sexual acts "against the order of nature". The law was used to prosecute people engaging in oral and anal sex along with homosexual activity. As per Supreme Court Judgement since 2018, Indian Penal Code Section 377 is used to convict non-consensual sexual activities among homosexuals with a minimum of ten years imprisonment extended to life imprisonment. It has been used to criminalize third gender people, such as the apwint in Myanmar. In 2018, then British Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged how the legacies of British colonial anti-sodomy laws continue to persist today in the form of discrimination, violence, and death.
Homosexuality in India has been documented and discussed in various artworks and literary works since ancient times and continues to be a major discussion point as LGBTQ rights are advanced in modern politics. Homosexuality is legally permitted in India, and same-sex unions have limited recognition.
Suicide is a crime in some parts of the world. However, while suicide has been decriminalized in many countries, the act is almost universally stigmatized and discouraged. In some contexts, suicide could be utilized as an extreme expression of liberty, as is exemplified by its usage as an expression of devout dissent towards perceived tyranny or injustice which occurred occasionally in cultures such as ancient Rome, medieval Japan, or today's Tibet Autonomous Region.
Sallekhana, also known as samlehna, santhara, samadhi-marana or sanyasana-marana, is a supplementary vow to the ethical code of conduct of Jainism. It is the religious practice of voluntarily fasting to death by gradually reducing the intake of food and liquids. It is viewed in Jainism as the thinning of human passions and the body, and another means of destroying rebirth-influencing karma by withdrawing all physical and mental activities. It is not considered a suicide by Jain scholars because it is not an act of passion, nor does it employ poisons or weapons. After the sallekhana vow, the ritual preparation and practice can extend into years.
Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi (2009) is a landmark Indian case decided by a two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court, which held that treating consensual homosexual sex between adults as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by India's Constitution. The verdict resulted in the decriminalization of homosexual acts involving consenting adults throughout India. This was later overturned by the Supreme Court of India in Suresh Kumar Koushal vs. Naz Foundation, in which a 2 judge bench reinstated Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. However, even that was overturned by a 5 judge bench in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India in 2018, decriminalizing homosexuality once again.
The Code of Criminal Procedure commonly called Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974. It provides the machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused person and the determination of punishment of the guilty. It also deals with public nuisance, prevention of offences and maintenance of wife, child and parents.
Child sexual abuse laws in India have been enacted as part of the child protection policies of India. The Parliament of India passed the 'Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill (POCSO), 2011' regarding child sexual abuse on 22 May 2012, making it an Act. A guideline was passed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, India. The rules formulated by the government in accordance with the law had also been notified on the November 2012 and the law had become ready for implementation. There have been many calls for more stringent laws.
Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. According to the 2021 annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 31,677 rape cases were registered across the country, or an average of 86 cases daily, a rise from 2020 with 28,046 cases, while in 2019, 32,033 cases were registered. Of the total 31,677 rape cases, 28,147 of the rapes were committed by persons known to the victim. The share of victims who were minors or below 18 – the legal age of consent – stood at 10%.
Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code criminalises attempted suicide as well as suicide assistance.
Navtej Singh Johar is an Indian Sangeet Natak Akademi award-winning Bharatnatyam exponent and choreographer. He is also an LGBTQ activist.
The dowry system in India refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or movable property that the bride's family gives to the groom, his parents and his relatives as a condition of the marriage. Dowry is called "दहेज" in Hindi and as جہیز in Urdu.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Kerala face legal and social difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT persons. However, Kerala has been at the forefront of LGBT issues in India after Tamil Nadu. It became one of the first states in India to establish a welfare policy for the transgender community and in 2016, proposed implementing free gender affirmation surgery through government hospitals. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 2018, following the Supreme Court ruling in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India. In addition, numerous LGBT-related events have been held across Kerala, including in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. However, there is also increasing opposition to LGBT rights recently as evidenced by the anti-LGBT campaigns spearheaded by meninist groups and Muslim organisations like Indian Union Muslim League, Samastha and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Adultery was a criminal offence under Chapter XX of the Indian Penal Code until it was quashed by the Supreme Court of India on 27 September 2018 as unconstitutional. The law dated from 1860. Under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which was the section dealing with adultery, a man who had consensual sexual intercourse with the wife of another man without that husband's consent or connivance could have been punished for this offence with up to five years imprisonment, a fine or both. As such, the concept of adultery targeted the act of sexual intercourse occurring between a married woman and a man other than her husband, in which case the man would be guilty whereas the wife was exempt from punishment. When a married man had sexual intercourse with an unmarried woman, no party was punishable; while if a married man had sexual intercourse with a married woman other than his wife, the married man's crime was against the husband of that married woman, not against the man's own wife towards whom he had been unfaithful. Adultery was only prosecutable upon the complaint of the aggrieved husband.
Suresh Kumar Koushal &Anr. v. NAZ Foundation &Ors.(2013) is a case in which a 2 judge Supreme Court bench consisting of G. S. Singhvi and S. J. Mukhopadhaya overturned the Delhi High Court case Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi and reinstated Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The Supreme Court of India decided to revisit this judgement after several curative petitions were filed against it, in 2017. Thereby in 2018, Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, a 5 judge bench of the Supreme Court overturned this judgement, decriminalizing homosexuality. Portions of Section 377 relating to sex with minors, non-consensual sexual acts such as rape, and bestiality remain in force.
Navtej Singh Johar &Ors. v. Union of India thr. Secretary Ministry of Law and Justice (2018) is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India that decriminalised all consensual sex among adults, including homosexual sex.
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, is the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India.
The Bharatiya Sakshya Act, 2023 is an Act of the Parliament of India.
... People were saying, 'Twenty plus Four equals Char Sau Bees.' Char Sou Bees is 420 which is the number of the law that has to do with counterfeiting ...
... Tazeerat-e-hind, dafa 302 ke tahat, mujrim ko maut ki saza sunai jaati hai ...
... we'd have the death penalty back tomorrow. Dafa 302, taaziraat-e-Hind ... to be hung by the neck until death ...
... Badti Ka Naam Dadhi ( 1975), Chhoti Si Baat ( 1975), Dafa 302 ( 1 975), Chori Mera Kaam ( 1975), Ek Mahal Ho Sapnon Ka (1975) ...