IPC Sections List

[UPSC Notes]

What is IPC?
The IPC full form is the Indian Penal Code and was established in the year 1860. The
Indian Penal Code (IPC) was enacted in 1860 in response to the suggestions of India's
first law commission, which was founded in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 and
was chaired by Lord Macaulay. The Code took effect on January 1, 1862, during British
command over India, and applied to all of then-British India, excluding the princely
states, which maintained their own courts and judicial systems until about the 1940s.

The Code was enacted by Independent India after the partition. It applies to all citizens
of India. The IPC has been reformed repeatedly since then and is now accompanied by
a number of other criminal provisions. The IPC is presently divided into 23 chapters with
a total of 511 sections. We will discuss the IPC's important sections in the coming
segment.

Understanding IPC

The Indian Penal Code defines what a crime is and what the punishments are for
committing one.

• This Code consolidates the entire structure of law on the subject and proclaims
the law meticulously across all aspects.
• The Indian Penal Code is a substantive law body.
• Substantive law is a system of law that establishes civil law obligations and rights
as well as criminal law offenses and penalties.
• As an outcome, the Indian Penal Code is the law that defines punishable
misdemeanors, as well as their penalties or forms of punishment or both.
• This code divides punishments into five categories: death, life imprisonment,
general imprisonment, forfeiture of property, and fine.
• Mohammedan Criminal Law was implemented for both Muslims and Hindus in
India before the implementation of the Indian Penal Code.

Important IPC Sections List

Below we have covered IPC Important sections:

• Section 1 – Title and extent of operation of the Code.

• Section 2 – Punishment of offenses committed within India.
• Section 3 – Punishment of offenses committed beyond but which by law may be
tried within India.
• Section 4 – Extension of Code to extra-territorial offenses.
• Section 8 – Gender.
• Section 11 – Person.
• Section 19 to 26 – “Judge”, “Court of Justice”, “Public Servant”, “Movable
property”, “Wrongful gain”, “Wrongful loss”, “Gaining wrongfully, losing
wrongfully”, “Dishonestly”, “Fraudulently”, “Reason to believe”.
• Section 34 – Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention.
• Section 35 – When such an act is criminal by reason of its being done with a
criminal knowledge or intention.
• Section 36 – Effect caused partly by act and partly by omission.
• Section 37 – Cooperation by doing one of several acts constituting an offense.
• Section 38 – Persons concerned in criminal act may be guilty of different
offenses.
• Section 39 – “Voluntarily”.
• Section 40 – “Offence”.
• Section 52 – “Good faith”.
• Section 52A – “Harbour”.
• Section 53 – Punishment.
• Section 73 – Solitary confinement.
• Section 74 – Limit of solitary confinement.
• Section 76 to 106 – CHAPTER IV (76-106) – General Exceptions
• Section 107 to 120 – CHAPTER V (107-120) – Abetment
• Section 120A – Definition of criminal conspiracy.
• Section 120B – Punishment of criminal conspiracy.
• Section 121 – Waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war,
against the Government of India.
• Section 124A – Sedition.
• Section 141 – Unlawful assembly.
• Section 142 – Being a member of unlawful assembly.
• Section 143 – Punishment.
• Section 144 – Joining unlawful assembly armed with a deadly weapon.
• Section 145 – Joining or continuing in unlawful assembly, knowing it has been
commanded to disperse.
• Section 146 – Rioting.
• Section 147 – Punishment for rioting.
• Section 148 – Rioting, armed with deadly weapons.
• Section 149 – Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of the offense
committed in prosecution of the common object.
• Section 159 – Affray. (6 Differences between Rioting and Affray)
• Section 179 – Refusing to answer a public servant authorized to question.
• Section 182 – False information, with intent to cause a public servant to use his
lawful power to the injury of another person.
• Section 191 – Giving false evidence.
• Section 268 – Public nuisance.
• Section 292 – Sale, etc, of obscene books, etc.
• Section 293 – Sale, etc, of obscene objects to young people.
• Section 294 – Obscene acts and songs.
• Section 295 – Injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the
religion of any class.
• Section 295A – Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious
feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
• Section 296 – Disturbing religious assembly.
• Section 299 – Culpable homicide to Section 309 – Attempt to commit suicide.
• Section 319 – Hurt to Section 338 – Causing grievous hurt by act endangering
the life or personal safety of others.
• Section 339 – Wrongful restraint.
• Section 340 – Wrongful confinement.
• Section 349 – Force.
• Section 350 – Criminal force.
• Section 351 – Assault.
• Section 354 – Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her
modesty.
• Section 354A – Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment.
• Section 354B – Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe.
• Section 354C – Voyeurism.
• Section 354D – Stalking.
• Section 359 – Kidnapping.
• Section 360 – Kidnapping from India.
• Section 361 – Kidnapping from lawful guardianship.
• Section 362 – Abduction.
• Section 375 – Rape.
• Section 376 – Punishment for rape.
• Section 376D – Gang rape.
• Section 376DA – Punishment for gang rape on woman under sixteen years of
age.
• Section 376DB – Punishment for gang rape on woman under twelve years of
age.
• Section 376E – Punishment for repeat offenders.
• Section 377 – Unnatural offenses.
• Section 378 – Theft.
• Section 383 – Extortion.
• Section 390 – Robbery.
• Section 391 – Dacoity.
• Section 396 – Dacoity with murder.
• Section 399 – Making preparation to commit dacoity.
• Section 403 – Dishonest misappropriation of property.
• Section 405 – Criminal breach of trust.
• Section 410 – Stolen Property.
• Section 413 – Habitually dealing in stolen property.
 • Section 414 – Assisting in the concealment of stolen property.
• Section 415 – Cheating.
• Section 420 – Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
• Section 425 – Mischief.
• Section 441 – Criminal Trespass to Section 446 – House-breaking by night.
• Section 493 – Cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of
lawful marriage.
• Section 494 – Marrying again during the lifetime of husband or wife.
• Section 495 – Same offense with concealment of former marriage from person
with whom subsequent marriage is contracted.
• Section 496 – Marriage ceremony fraudulently gone through without lawful
marriage.
• Section 497 – Adultery.
• Section 498 – Enticing or taking away or detaining with criminal intent a married
woman.
• Section 498A – Cruelty by husband or relatives of the husband.
• Section 499 – Defamation.
• Section 503 – Criminal intimidation.
• Section 506 – Punishment for criminal intimidation.
• Section 509 – Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
• Section 511 – Attempts to commit offenses.

Importance of IPC
The Indian Penal Code is applicable to all Indian citizens who commit felonies or
behave improperly on the Indian territory.

• It serves as a guide text for all judgments and penalizing guidelines in

circumstances of violence or improper conduct.
• The memorandum is applicable to both ships and aircraft functioning in Indian
waters or airfields.
• The Indian Penal Code's most essential feature is the impartiality of the
judgments it encourages. There are no exceptions in the Indian Penal Code for
any person in any rank.
• The Indian Penal Code includes all pertinent criminal violations trying to deal with
state felonies, public offenses, armed forces offenses, kidnapping, murder, and
rape.
• It covers religious offenses and property offenses and has a section dedicated to
marriage offenses, inhumane treatment from a husband or relatives, defamation,
and so forth.

Reforms Needed Under the IPC Sections

Blasphemy should have no place in a liberal democracy, which is why Section 295A,
which was added in 1927, must be repealed.
• In 1913, the criminal conspiracy was made a substantive offense. The offense is
objectionable because the colonists introduced it to the code to deal with political
fabrications.
• The criterion of constructive liability is stretched to unreasonably severe extents
in Section 149 on unlawful assembly.
• The clear difference between "culpable homicide" and "murder" is often criticized
as the "weakest part of the code" because the interpretations are ambiguous.
• The code's sexual offenses expose patriarchal values and Victorian moral
standards. However, the antiquated crime of infidelity grants the husband
exclusive proprietary rights over his wife's sexuality, it provides no legal
protection for the wife to secure an equivalent monopoly over the husband's
sexuality.

• The sedition law, enacted in 1898, needs to be reviewed.