- Indian Penal Code
Indian Penal Code (IPC,
Hindi : भारतीय दण्ड संहिता) provides apenal code for all ofIndia includingJammu and Kashmir , where it was renamed the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC). The code applies to any offence committed by an Indian Citizen anywhere and on any Indian registered ship or aircraft (This law does not however apply to the armed forces or supersede any other acts). The draft of the Indian Penal Code was prepared by the First Law Commission. It was chaired byLord 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 ofSir Barnes Peacock , Chief Justice, and puisne Judges of theCalcutta Supreme Court who were members of theLegislative Council , and was passed into law in 1860, unfortunatelyMacaulay did not survive to see his masterpiece enacted into a law.Though it is principally the work of a man who had hardly held a brief, and whose time was devoted to
politics andliterature , yet it universally acknowledged to be a monument of codification and an everlasting memorial to the high juristic attainments of its distinguished author. For example even cyber crimes can be punished under the code.Indian Penal Code came into force in 1862 (during the
British Raj ) and is regularly amended, such as to include section 498-A. The code contains several sections related todowry law in India and has a total of 511 sections covering various aspects of theCriminal Law . The nature of these have led toallegations of abuse of those laws.The Indian Penal Code was inherited by
Pakistan andBangladesh , formerly part of British India. It was also adopted wholesale by the British colonial authorities inBurma ,Sri Lanka ,Malaysia ,Singapore andBrunei , and remains the basis of the criminal codes in those countries.Reforms
In 2003, Justice
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 Indiancriminal justice system. [ [http://ipc498a.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/india_crim_justice_reform.pdf IPC reform committee recommends separation of investigation from prosecution powers (pdf)] ]The essence of the report was a perceived need for shift from an adversarial to an inquisitorial criminal justice system, based on the
Continental Europe an systems.Trivia
*Some other sections of the penal code have become
popular culture references, such asSection 420 of the Penal Code.Confidence trickster s in India andPakistan , where the penal code apply are called "420", after this section.External links
* [http://nrcw.nic.in/shared/sublinkimages/59.pdf Indian Penal Code(PDF)]
* [http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html Constitution of India]ee also
*
Indian Evidence Act References
* http://www.advocatekhoj.com/library/bareacts/indianpenalcode/index.php?Title=IndianPenalCode,1860
* http://www.indianlawcds.com/Criminalbareacts/IPC.htm
* http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/IndianPenalCode/indianpenalcode.htm
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