JOIN USPresident Pranab Mukherjee’s call for a thorough revision of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is not a new suggestion. The Supreme Court has in the past observed that the IPC needed changes.
The apex court has struck down many of its provisions, which showed that it has found them out of sync with the times or not in conformity with the Constitution. The Law Commission has also made many suggestions about changes to individual provisions of the IPC. The President’s call is important because it comes from the holder of the highest office under the Constitution, which is the basis of all the laws of the country including the IPC. President Mukherjee made the suggestion at a function last week which marked the 155th anniversary of the IPC. He pointed out that the IPC needed an overhaul because it has to meet the changing needs of the 21st century.
The laws of a country should embody universal human values and reflect the ethos of the society where they operate. This is especially true of the laws of democratic societies. The IPC was formulated in the 19th century. Many of its provisions were meant to serve the interests of the British raj. Some of them have since been dropped or changed but the IPC still retains many features of a colonial law. Since the needs, interests and attitudes of the society have vastly changed, the penal code should also be accordingly changed. What is considered a crime in one society and in one age may not be a crime in another society or at a different time. As the President noted, new types of crimes have also emerged and the penal code should be equipped to effectively deal with them. They need to be defined clearly and incorporated in the code.
Some of these provisions have been widely debated in the country and are obvious candidates for deletion. The sedition clause in Section 124A and the criminalisation of homosexuality under Section 377 reflect the thinking of a past age. They are misused to harass people and should not have a place in a modern, democratic code of criminal laws. The advances in technology and other factors have spawned new kinds of crimes using cyber tools. Cyber crimes, financial frauds, violation of privacy and new forms of crimes against women are all areas that need closer legal attention. Penalties like death sentence are also against the modern idea of justice. A comprehensive review of the IPC is needed for changes in all these areas. The government should take the initiative for this.