Magazine
- Home /
- October 2019
Index
Toppers Talk
Art & Culture
Polity
- Right to access internet is fundamental right declares Kerala High Court
- Legal rights of Deities in India, Difference in Natural and Juristic Person
- Bru refugees refuse to return to Mizoram
- No animal sacrifice in Tripura temple-Orders High Court
- EC’s Order on Reducing Sikkim CM’s Disqualification Period
- Law Ministry issues corrigendum to Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act
- Appointment of the Judges in India.
- New Chief Justice of India- How is CJI appointed?
- Indian Penal Code 1860, HM Amit Shah wants to Overhaul IPC
- National Population Register (NPR) 2020
- Whistle Blowers Allegations on Infosys
Governance & Social Justice
- 60% girls in Delhi colleges anaemic
- Niti aayog’s School education quality index
- Multipurpose National Identity Card
- Population pyramid : India Vs China, Demographic dividend Phase of India
- UN Population Report, India will become the most populous country by 2027
- Supreme Court upholds SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendments Act
- Comparing Population Pyramids of India and China
- Waqf boards-Their governance and purpose
- Harvard Admissions Case
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana- Ist Anniversary, Problems and solutions
- Significance of sexual and Reproductive Health-Status of reproductive services in India
- Pregnancy in Old Age, What is In Vitro Fertilisation-Risks and legal shortcomings
- Supreme Court Judgement on NGOs and RTI
- Social Stock Exchange
- Rajasthan Govt changes EWS norms, Sets Rs 8 lakh family income as only criteria
- Global hunger index 2019
- No Government job for those with more than two kids
- Ranitidine CANCER risk
- IIT Council Introduces Tenure track system
International Relations
- Bangladesh growing faster than India ?
- Cyprus dispute explained
- Donald Trump impeachment
- India wins Hyderabad Nizam case against Pakistan
- India’s reply to Pakistan at UNGA
- Prime Minister of Malaysia calls India and invader in Kashmir
- Should India recognise the armenian genocide ?
- Why are CARICOM countries important for India ?
- Why are countries leaving OPEC ?
- Attacks on Saudi Oil facilities
- Organization of Islamic Cooperation issues statement on Jammu and Kashmir
- Sri Lanka’s relations with India & China
- US troops start pullout in Syria as Turkey prepares for operation
- What are Vanilla Islands?
- India-USA trade deal
- UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award-2019
- Modi – Xi Informal meet at Mamallapuram – Historic Chinese links
- India China informal summit in Tamil nadu
- Pakistan save from FATF blacklist till 2020
- USA blacklists China organisations over Uighur Muslim abuse
- Why is Chile burning ?
- Why is the Philippines important for India
- Xi jinping Nepal visit 2019 and impact on India
- India Pakistan Cross LOC Trade suspended, Should India revoke suspension?
- Protests in Lebanon
- Chennai to Vladivostok Sea Route
- End of baghdadi
- Indian government’s security advisory
- Indians no longer require Visa to visit Brazil
- Non Aligned Movement 2019 summit
- US backed Ceasefire between Turkey and Kurds
- Pakistan stops postal exchange with India
- China’s GDP growth slows to 6% slowest in 27 years
- Common Goods for Health project by WHO
- Turkey attack Kurds in Syria
Geography
Economy
- Behavioural Aspect of Farmer Suicide
- Is rural India really open defecation free ?
- Global Growth Slow Down
- Nobel Prize in Economics 2019
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- SBI wrote off bad loans worth 76,000 crores
- Surge in Onion Price
- Agriculture Credit by RBI’s Internal Working Group
- What is Debt to GDP Ratio?
- Yes Bank Crisis
- Nobel prize in Literature – Controversy
- Boosting Indian Exports
- Sopore Fruit Mandi deserted
- What is Pink Collarisation?
- Mizoram to have Broad Gauge railway line by 2021
- Demand downturn in Indian Economy
- Payment facilitation fund
- Participatory Guarantee Scheme
- RBI’s 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy 2019-20
- Tourism restrictions lifted in Kashmir
- Link between Jobs, Farming, and Climate
- Draft Social Security Code 2019
- State Tax Revenues, SGST and Central Tax Devolution are likely to fall short
- Competitiveness Index 2019 by World Economic Forum
- NITI Aayog’s Water Resources Strategy
- BSNL and MTNL financial issues-DoT prepares Rs 74000 crore revival plan
- 20th Livestock Census
- India falls 10 ranks in World economic forum’s Global competitiveness index
- RBI stops Printing Rs 2000 Notes
- What is the Unified Approach proposal of OECD?
- FCI granaries overflowing
- India’s Economic Growth 2019
- Financial Sector Scams in India
- Labour Market of India
- New Strategic Disinvestment Process
- Payment Delays to Sugarcane Farmers
- Why India’s IMF Quota is not increased
- What is monetary policy Transmission? Why banks are not reducing interest
- Mahatma Gandhi’s theory of Economics
- India moves up 14 spots to 63 on world Bank ease of doing business index
- New amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act
- Power Sector Scenario in India
- Telecos to Pay Rs 96,642 crore to the Government
- Camel population declines in Rajasthan
- Merger of BSNL and MTNL
- World bank on Indian economy
Defence & Security
- Nagas Kukis Conflict, What is the cause of the latest tensions?
- Case against 50 Celebrities controversy
- Can Indian Government intercept WhatsApp?
- UP Government fires 25000 home guards, Is Yogi Government’s decision justified?
- NCRB’s Crime in India 2017 report
- Aadhaar Social Media mandatory linking case
- What is TechSagar? National repository of India’s cyber tech capabilities.
Disaster Management
Science & Technology
- ISRO’S Project NETRA
- Facebook’s LIBRA Currency in trouble
- WHO launches first World report on Vision
- 2019 Nobel prize in physics
- 2019 Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine
- Elon musk’s starlink project
- NASA’s ICON mission
- New King of the Moons in the Solar system is Saturn
- What Is Spectroscopy ?
- Quantum supremacy
Environment
- Climate Vulnerable Mapping Of India
- C40 Cities
- Gujarat Unveils emission trading scheme
- Forest Plus 2.0
- Himalayan States seeks Green Bonus
- India to Phase Out Single Use Plastic (SUP) by 2022
- Role of Volcanoes in Global Warming
- NH 766 ban controversy, Protests in Kerala against night traffic ban on the forest stretch
- Climate Change needs Global Solution
- Aarey Forest -2185 trees to be cut for Mumbai metro
- Government to build 1400 km long Green wall
- Graded Response Action Plan in Delhi
- Aerosol formation brightening clouds
- Anthrax outbreak in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Two affected buffaloes died
- Species in News from June to October 2019
- Climate Action Summit 2019
Prelims bits

Tag: GS 2 || Polity ||Judiciary || Judicial Reforms
Why In News?
- The Home Ministry is set to amend various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
About IPCs
- The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India.
- It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal 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 Macaulay.
- It came into force in British India during the early British 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.
Why IPC needs revamp?
- The rebooting of IPC introduced by the British in 1860 was necessary as it is primarily based on the spirit of “master and servant.”
- In the British era, the police were raised to protect their interests, but now their duty is to “protect the people”.
- There is uneven punishment for crimes of grievous nature. For example — snatching of chains or bags on road. It could be life-threatening in some cases but the punishment is not commensurate with the gravity of the crime.
- Depending on the whims of the police, it is booked under robbery or theft. We have to standardize the punishment.
Earlier amendments
- In 2016, the Home Ministry had proposed insertion of two stricter anti-racial discrimination provisions in the IPC.
- The two amendments — Section 153A and Section 509A “to deal with racially motivated crimes” received lukewarm response from the States.
What is the proposal?
- The Home Minister recently said that the Bureau of Police Research and Development should work on the proposal to amend the codes.
- The Ministry wrote to all States and Union Territories seeking suggestions in this regard.
- Two committees comprising legal luminaries have also been constituted by the Ministry.
What is the need for caution?
- While the revision of the codes is essential in many ways, it should not be unprincipled or unguided amendments.
- In the process, it is suggested to first look into –
- the general principles of criminal law
- the language of the IPC.
- the rules which should govern its
- Criminal law is considered to be the most apparent expression of the relationship between a state and its
What are the principles to be considered?
Victims – Victimological underpinnings ought to be given a major thrust in reforming laws to identify the rights of crime victims.
- The following point towards the increased role of victims in the criminal justice system:
- launch of victim and witness protection schemes
- use of victim impact statements
- advent of victim advocacy
- increased victim participation in criminal trials
- enhanced access of victims to compensation and
Offences – Construction of new offences and reworking of the existing classification of offences is another priority.
- This process must be informed by the principles of criminal jurisprudence which have substantially been altered in the past four decades.
- For instance, liability questions in offences need a fresh look.
- Criminal liability could be graded better to assign the degree of punishments.
- New types of punishments like community service orders, restitution orders, and other aspects of restorative and reformative justice could also be brought in this fold.
Classification – Chapters of the IPC are overloaded at several places.
- It is unnecessary to have hundreds of sections in the category of property offences.
- The scheme of chapters and classification of offences can be drastically reworked.
- Offences like criminal conspiracy, sedition, offences against coin and stamps, etc must be abolished or
- Even the chapters on offences against public servants, contempt of authority, public tranquility, and trespass can be redefined and narrowed.
- New offences under a fresh classification scheme, like those suggested by the Malimath Committee on criminal justice reforms, can be introduced.
What is the way forward?
- India needs to draft a clear policy that should inform the changes to be envisaged in the IPC or
- Simultaneous improvements should be made in the police, prosecution, judiciary and in prisons, for the above measures to be truly effective.
- A Criminal Justice Reform Committee with a mandate to evolve criminal justice policy should be formed for this exercise.
- It should be in furtherance to the work done by the Menon Committee on Criminal Justice System, the Malimath Committee, and the Law Commission in India in this regard.
Additional Info – Malimath Report
- Justice Malimath Committee or The Committee on Reforms of the Criminal Justice System was constituted by the Home Ministry in 2000.
- The committee had submitted its report in 2003 and made recommendations on crime investigation and punishment.
- The recommendations were never implemented. It is now going to be revisited by the government.
- One of its key recommendations is admissibility of confessions made before a police officer as evidence in a court of law.
- Other recommendations are
- Stringent punishment for false registration of cases,
- Constituting a National Judicial Commission and
- Amending Article 124 to make impeachment of judges less difficult.
- Standard of “proof beyond reasonable doubt” followed in criminal cases be done away with.
Mains Question
Why revamping or reform is necessary in Indian Penal Code(IPC)?