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Indian Penal Code comes into force

· Chennai

Indian Penal Code comes into force
Greentubing, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Drafted under Macaulay and enacted in 1860, the Indian Penal Code took effect throughout British India, the Madras Presidency included.

Thomas Babington Macaulay chaired the First Law Commission, which prepared the draft of the Indian Penal Code and submitted it in 1835. Following lengthy revision, it was passed on 6 October 1860 as Act No. 45 of 1860. From 1 January 1862, when it took effect, the Madras Presidency shared one code of criminal law with the rest of British India. In Tamil Nadu it stayed the foundation of criminal law until the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita superseded it in 2024.

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