Indian Penal Code, 1860

The Indian Penal Code (IPC) was passed in 1860 and came into force in 1862. It is the main criminal code in India. It was drafted after consulting various existent criminal codes in the world such as the French Penal Code as well as the Code of Louisiana in the US. It is uniformly applicable in all the states of the country except Jammu and Kashmir where, due to the special constitutional status of that state, a separate Penal Code called is in operation.

The Indian Penal Code is divided into twenty three chapters, comprising over 500 sections. The Code starts with an Introduction, provides explanations and exceptions used in it, and then lists a wide range of offences. 

Classification of Crimes Under IPC

  • Crimes Against Body: Murder, Culpable Homicide not amounting to Murder, Kidnapping & Abduction, Assault, etc.
  • Crimes Against Property: Dacoity, Robbery, Burglary, Theft
  • Crimes Against Public Order: Riots, Arson
  • Economic Crimes: Cheating, Counterfeiting
  • Crimes Against Women: Rape, Dowry Death, Cruelty by Husband and Relatives, Molestation, Sexual harassment and Importation of Girls
  • Crimes Against Children: Child Rape, Kidnapping & Abduction of Children, Selling/Buying of girls for Prostitution, Abetment to Suicide, Infanticide, Foeticide
  • Other IPC Crimes

The Indian Penal Code (IPC) covers the substantial part of criminal law in India. It defines various common criminal offences. For example, it defines murder, theft, assault and a number of other offences and also stipulates appropriate punishments for each offence. For instance, the offence of "theft" is defined in the following language in Section 378 of the IPC:

Whoever, dishonestly [intends to take] any movable property out of the possession of any person without that person's consent, [and with that intention] moves that property in order to [commit] such taking, is said to commit theft.

In other words, a crime of theft is committed if someone intends to take someone else's property and indeed takes that property without the other person's consent. Merely intending to take somebody's property, without actually going ahead with the act, does not amount to theft.

The Punishment for theft is stipulated in the following Section 379 which states:

Whoever commits theft shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

Different crimes carry different punishments according to the severity of the offence. For instance the punishment for murder is either death or life imprisonment. 

This is the way that most of the IPC is organized: first, a definition of an offence is provided, and next the punishment for that offence is stipulated.

In addition to the IPC, other special legislations such as the Information Technology Act, the Prevention of Corruption Act, etc. also help in classifying and punishing criminal acts.

This definition only tells us what the offence is. It does not tell us about what we should do if someone has stolen our property, or to whom should we complain to? What can the police do? In other words, the IPC deals only with substantive criminal law and not with procedural criminal law. These procedures are set forth in detail in the Criminal Procedure Code.