What is the history of the Indian Penal Code ?

 

Comparison between Indian Penal Code, 1860 Vs. Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

A Brief Comparative Overview of Indian Penal Code, 1860 Vs. Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

A Brief Comparative Overview of Indian Penal Code, 1862 & Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

A concise comparative overview of the Indian Penal Code of 1862 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita of 2023.

A concise comparative overview of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and Bharatiya Sakshya Act 2023.

New Criminal Law Bill which will replace the old IPC and Crpc and Evidence Law

The History of Criminal Law आपराधिक कानून का इतिहास

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

The central government introduced three Bills in Parliament Called

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023

Bharatiya Sakshya (BS) Bill, 2023.

They are to replace the existing

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973

Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

BACKGROUND OF IPC,1860

    Written by: ‘Thomas Babington Macaulay ’.

    Extent : Whole of India ( the word Jammu & Kashmir was omitted from 31st oct 2019)

    Enacted : 6th oct 1860

    Commencement: 1st jan 1862

    Total chapters: 23

    Total sections: 511

    Shortest chapter: Chapter no.23(1 section)

    Longest chapter: Chapter no.17 (84 sections)

    Crime is a concurrent subject so both the centre and state can amend IPC.[3]

Nature of Crime

➢ Public wrong

– Dynamic nature

➢ Punishment is the remedy -because crimes such as rape, murder, kidnapping can not be Compensated.

Indian Penal Code (IPC)

IPC came into force in 1860.

The code was passed into law on 6th Oct 1860 and came into operation from 1st Jan 1862.

IPC is the main Criminal Code in India divided into 23 Chapters and 511 sections.

It was presented by Thomas Babington Macaulay in front of the Governor-General of India in 1835 and prepared by first law commission in 1834 under Charter Act 1833.

Date enacted 6 October 1860

Date assented to 6 October 1860

Date commenced 1 January 1862

The draft of the Indian Penal Code was prepared by the First Law Commission, chaired by Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1835 and was submitted to the Governor-General of India Council in 1837. Its basis is the law of England freed from superfluities, technicalities and local peculiarities. Elements were also derived from the Napoleonic Code and from 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.The Code came into operation on 1 January 1862. Macaulay did not survive to see his masterpiece come into force, having died near the end of 1859.

Indian Constitution as we know was not a fresh start up and was not drafted by the drafting committee completely it was just a few improvements in the

Government of India Act - 1935

I will give you a small glimpse on the evolution of our present constitution chronologically

India ruled by the East India Company without the involvement of British Monarch

Regulating Act - 1773

Pitt's India Act - 1784

Charter Act - 1833

Charter Act - 1853

After these, the uprising of 1857 commenced and India was free from British rule for about 9 months until a King named Scindhia helped them gain the control of India back again.

and impose these acts

Government of India Act - 1858

Indian Councils Act - 1861

Indian Councils Act - 1892

Indian Councils Act - 1909

Government Of India Act - 1919

Government Of India Act - 1935

Indian Independence Act - 1947

As for Laws, acts and other rules and regulations for governance like

Taxation, Police reforms, Industries, Judiciary etc.,

The Indian Penal Code was drafted by the first Law Commission which was chaired by Thomas Babington Macaulay. It was drafted in 1834 and submitted to the Council of Governor-General of India in the year 1835.

THE INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860 ACT NO. 45 OF 1860 1* [6th October, 1860.]

ollowing are some of the reforms which improved the criminal justice system in India and led to the formation of major criminal laws including IPC, 1860:

1772 CE- Warren Hastings Warren Hastings introduced severe punishment for dacoity in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

1773 CE- Hasting created a draft regarding changes in Muslim criminal law system. He wanted to change the law regarding the relation of murder, willful murder and classification of weapon. Hastings said that Murder is a murder and there should not be any distinction regarding murder weapon and punishment depending on the nature of weapon. Another important change, Hastings introduced is the forfeiture of right of kin and relatives to forgive the murderer.

December 3, 1790 CE- Charles Cornwallis introduced the concept of Mens rea and gave importance to intention to crime especially murder.

October 10, 1791 CE- Punishment of mutilation of limbs abolished.

April 27, 1792 CE- Religious tenets of witnesses for conviction abolished.

The Cornwallis code of 1793 re-enacted all the above changes.

(hereinafter referred to as the "Will")

Structure and Provisions of IPC. There are 23 chapters and 511 sections in the India Penal Code, which can broadly be classified into four categories: Chapters I to V deal with general matters relating to the extent, definitions, principles of liability, etc.

Note:

Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India drafted in 1860 in the wake of the first law commission established in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833.

Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provides procedures for administering criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and became effective on 1 April 1974.

The Indian Evidence Act, originally passed in India by the Imperial Legislative Council in 1872, during the British Raj, contains a set of rules and allied issues governing admissibility of evidence in the Indian courts of law.

TWO HUNDRED FORTY SIXTH REPORT ON THE BHARATIYA NYAYA SANHITA, 2023