Indian Penal Code

Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects ofcriminal law. The code was drafted in 1860 on the recommendations of first law commission of India established in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 under the Chairmanship of Thomas Babington Macaulay. It came into force in British India during the earlyBritish Raj period in 1862. However, it did not apply automatically in the Princely states, which had their own courts and legal systems until the 1940s. The Code has since been amended several times and is now supplemented by other criminal provisions. Based on IPC, Jammu and Kashmir has enacted a separate code known as Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).

After the departure of the British, the Indian Penal Code was inherited by Pakistan as well, much of which was formerly part of British India, and there it is now called the Pakistan Penal Code. Even after the independence of Bangladesh (Formerly known as East Pakistan) from Pakistan (Formerly known as West Pakistan), it continued in force there. It, the Indian Penal Code, was also adopted by the British colonial authorities in Burma, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), the Straits Settlements (now part of Malaysia), Singapore and Brunei, and remains the basis of the criminal codes in those countries.The Ranbir Penal Code applicable in that state of Jammu and Kashmir of India, is also based on this Code.

Structure / Sections of IPC

The Indian Penal Code of 1860, sub-divided into twenty three chapters, comprises five hundred and eleven sections. The Code starts with an introduction, provides explanations and exceptions used in it, and covers a wide range of offences. The Outline is presented in the following table:

INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860 (Sections 1 to 511)
Chapter	Sections covered	Classification of offences
Chapter I	Sections 1 to 5	Introduction
Chapter II	Sections 6 to 52	General Explanations
Chapter III	Sections 53 to 75	of Punishments
Chapter IV	Sections 76 to 106	General Exceptions of the Right of Private Defence (Sections 96 to 106)
Chapter V	Sections 107 to 120	Of Abetment
Chapter VA	Sections 120A to 120B	Criminal Conspiracy
Chapter VI	Sections 121 to 130	Of Offences against the State
Chapter VII	Sections 131 to 140	Of Offences relating to the Army, Navy and Air Force
Chapter VIII	Sections 141 to 160	Of Offences against the Public Tranquillity
Chapter IX	Sections 161 to 171	Of Offences by or relating to Public Servants
Chapter IXA	Sections 171A to 171I	Of Offences Relating to Elections
Chapter X	Sections 172 to 190	Of Contempts of Lawful Authority of Public Servants
Chapter XI	Sections 191 to 229	Of False Evidence and Offences against Public Justice
Chapter XII	Sections 230 to 263	Of Offences relating to coin and Government Stamps
Chapter XIII	Sections 264 to 267	Of Offences relating to Weight and Measures
Chapter XIV	Sections 268 to 294	Of Offences affecting the Public Health, Safety, Convenience, Decency and Morals.
Chapter XV	Sections 295 to 298	Of Offences relating to Religion
Chapter XVI	Sections 299 to 377	Of Offences affecting the Human Body. ·         Of Offences Affecting Life including murder, culpable homicide (Sections 299 to 311) ·         Of the Causing of Miscarriage, of Injuries to Unborn Children, of the Exposure of Infants, and of the Concealment of Births (Sections 312 to 318) ·         Of Hurt (Sections 319 to 338) ·         Of Wrongful Restraint and Wrongful Confinement (Sections 339 to 348) ·         Of Criminal Force and Assault (Sections 349 to 358) ·         Of Kidnapping, Abduction, Slavery and Forced Labour (Sections 359 to 374) ·         Sexual Offences including rape (Sections 375 to 376) ·         Of Unnatural Offences (Section 377)
Chapter XVII	Sections 378 to 462	Of Offences Against Property ·         Of Theft (Sections 378 to 382) ·         Of Extortion (Sections 383 to 389) ·         Of Robbery and Dacoity (Sections 390 to 402) ·         Of Criminal Misappropriation of Property (Sections 403 to 404) ·         Of Criminal Breach of Trust (Sections 405 to 409) ·         Of the Receiving of Stolen Property (Sections 410 to 414) ·         Of Cheating (Section 415 to 420) ·         Of Fraudulent Deeds and Disposition of Property (Sections 421 to 424) ·         Of Mischief (Sections 425 to 440) ·         Of Criminal Trespass (Sections 441 to 462)
Chapter XVIII	Sections 463 to 489	Of Offences relating to Documents and Property Marks ·         Of Property and Other Marks (Sections 478 to 489) ·         Of Currency Notes and Bank Notes (Sections 489A to 489E)
Chapter XIX	Sections 490 to 492	Of the Criminal Breach of Contracts of Service
Chapter XX	Sections 493 to 498	Of Offences Relating to Marriage
Chapter XXA	Sections 498A	Of Cruelty by Husband or Relatives of Husband
Chapter XXI	Sections 499 to 502	Of Defamation
Chapter XXII	Sections 503 to 510	Of Criminal intimidation, Insult and Annoyance
Chapter XXIII	Section 511	Of Attempts to Commit Offences

Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR; known in some countries, such as Australia, as external dispute resolution) includesdispute resolution processes and techniques that act as a means for disagreeing parties to come to an agreement short of litigation. It is a collective term for the ways that parties can settle disputes, with (or without) the help of a third party.

Despite historic resistance to ADR by many popular parties and their advocates, ADR has gained widespread acceptance among both the general public and the legal profession in recent years. In fact, some courts now require some parties to resort to ADR of some type, usually mediation, before permitting the parties' cases to be tried (indeed the European Mediation Directive (2008)expressly contemplates so-called "compulsory" mediation; this means that attendance is compulsory, not that settlement must be reached through mediation).

The rising popularity of ADR can be explained by the increasing caseload of traditional courts, the perception that ADR imposes fewer costs than litigation, a preference for confidentiality, and the desire of some parties to have greater control over the selection of the individual or individuals who will decide their dispute. Some of the senior judiciary in certain jurisdictions (of which England and Wales is one) are strongly in favour of this (ADR) use of mediation to settle disputes.

Alternative dispute resolution in India is not new and it was in existence even under the previous Arbitration Act, 1940. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has been enacted to accommodate the harmonisation mandates of UNCITRAL Model. To streamline the Indian legal system the traditional civil law known as Code of Civil Procedure, (CPC) 1908 has also been amended and section 89 has been introduced. Section 89 (1) of CPC provides an option for the settlement of disputes outside the court. It provides that where it appears to the court that there exist elements, which may be acceptable to the parties, the court may formulate the terms of a possible settlement and refer the same for arbitration, conciliation, mediation or judicial settlement.

Due to extremely slow judicial process, there has been a big thrust on Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms in India. While Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is a fairly standard western approach towards ADR, the Lok Adalat system constituted under National Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 is a uniquely Indian approach.