General Principles and classification of crimes under Indian Penal Code:
The provisions may be broadly classified into 2 categories:
- General Principles
- Specific Offences
General Principles:
- Introduction (chp1)- includes objective, application and jurisdiction of criminal law
- General Explanations (chp-II) – it defines and explains important doctrines and interpretations of important terminology in the code. These are uniform throughout the Indian Penal Code
- Punishments (chp-III)- It enlists the types of punishments and their relevance
- General Exceptions-(chp IV)- it enlists the extenuating circumstances applicable to whole of the code eg insanity, necessity, mistake of law etc. These have been separately categorized to avoid repetition.
- Abatement (chp V)- an inchoate offence- including instigation, conspiracy and aiding and specifies respective punishments in law.
- Criminal Conspiracy (chp VA)- an inchoate offence, chp mentions its essentials and punishment to be awarded.
- Attempts to Commit Offences (XXIII)- enlist categories of attempts to various offences, the circumstances constituting attempts to those offences and the respective punishments.
Specific Offences:
- Offences against the State and Army, Navy and Airforce –chp VI and VII
- Offences affecting Common Well being- chps- VIII-XV and XIX
- Offences affecting Human Body – chp XVI- – affecting life, miscarriage, Injuries to unborn children, exposure of infants, concealment of births, hurt, wrongful restraint and confinement, criminal force, assault, kidnapping, slavery, forced labour, sexual offences and unnatural offences.
- Offences against Property- chps- XVII, XVIII- corporeal and incorporeal- theft, robbery, extortion, dacoity, criminal breach of duty, criminal misappropriation, cheating, stolen property, criminal trespass, documents and property marks.
- Offences affecting Reputation-Criminal Intimidation, Insult, Annoyance
- Offences Relating to Marriage- chp- XX,XXA- cruelty by Husband or Relatives.