IPC Full Form

IPC full form is the Indian Penal Code, which is the official criminal code of India. It is a code that intends to cover all the possible aspects of criminal law. By the recommendation of the first law commission of India established in the year 1834, under the Charter act of 1833 and under the chairmanship and guidance of Thomas Babington Macaulay, the criminal code was drafted. Read on to know more details about the full forms of IPC and details about the same.

What is IPC Full Form?

The full form of IPC is Indian Penal Code. The Indian Penal Code is considered as the official criminal code of India, which was drafted way back in 1860. Its objective is to issue a general penal code for the country. It has 511 sections across 23 chapters, providing the list of crimes along with the set procedures of definitions and punishments. The IPC has been amended many times and is now supplemented by other Acts. The jurisdiction of IPC extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. It came into force in 1862 in the colonized India during the British Raj. However, it was not applied to princely states which had their courts and legal system until the 1940s. In 1837, the first draft of the code was presented before the Governor-General

Brief History of the Indian Penal Code

The initial draft of the Indian Penal Code was prepared by the First Law Commission, which was administered by Thomas Babington Macaulay. The draft was based on the process of simple codification of the law of England, while at the same time drawing elements  from the Napoleonic Code and Louisiana Civil Code of 1825.

First draft of the Code was presented before the Governor-General in council in the year 1823, but subsequent numbers of revisions and amendments took two more decades. The overall drafting of the code was done in 1850 and was presented to the Legislative Council in 1856. But, it was delayed being placed on the statute book of British India as a rule due to the ongoing Indian Revolt of 1857. The code came into effect on January 1st, 1860 after conducting many revisions and amendments by Barnes Peacock who would go on to serve as the first Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court.

Before the arrival of the British, the penal law prevailing in India for most of the part, was the existing Mohammedan law. For the first few years of its administration and jurisprudence, the East India Company did not interfere in the criminal law of the country. Although in 1772, during the administration of Warren Hastings, the Company for the first time interfered and therefore till 1861, from time to time, the British Government did alter the implemented Mohammedan law, but up to 1862, when the Indian Penal Code came into existence, the Mohammedan law was undoubtedly the basis of the criminal law except in the presidency towns. The epoch of the administration of Muslim criminal law in India extended for a considerable period and has even supported many of the Indian laws and processes.

Classification of Offences under IPC

Broad Classification of Crimes Under IPC

Below mentioned crimes come under the classification of the Indian Penal Code.

• Crime committed against the body – Murder, Culpable homicide not amounting to certain murder, kidnapping etc.
• Crimes against property – Theft, dacoity, burglary etc.
• Crimes against public order – Riots and Arson
• Economic crimes – Cases such as cheating and counterfeiting
• Crimes against women – Rape, dowry death, cruelty by husband and relatives, molestation, sexual harassment and trafficking of girls
• Crimes against children – Cases such as child rape, kidnapping and abduction of children, selling and buying of girls for prostitution, abetment to suicide, infanticide, foeticide etc.

Structure of Indian Penal Code

The structure of the Indian Penal Code is widely and broadly classified. The specific crimes and provision of the punishment for the same is provided in the various sections of IPC. Further, it is subdivided into 23 chapters comprising a total of 511 sections. The basic structure, outline and classification of the Indian Penal Code is given below:

Criminal Justice Reforms

In 2003, the Malimath Committee submitted its report recommending several far-reaching penal reforms including the provision of separation of investigation and prosecution to streamline and enhance the criminal justice system.The essence of the report was an essential need for a shift from an adversarial to an inquisitorial criminal justice system based on the Continental European systems.