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 Indian Penal Code is the official criminal code of the Republic of India. It is a complete code intended to cover all aspects of criminal law.

It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974. It provides the machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused person, and the determination of punishment of the guilty.

Section 144 CrPC was invoked by the police forces across the country to contain the nation-wide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Popularly known as the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), it is the primary legislation regarding the procedural aspects of criminal law. It also contains certain provisions that are not strictly procedural in nature which include provisions pertaining to the prevention of nuisance (Section 133) and Maintenance of Wife and Children (Sections 125-128). The Code contains 484 sections spread along 37 chapters, along with 2 schedules and 56 forms.

The CrPC or the Code of Criminal Procedure is an important topic for the UPSC exam. It comes under the polity, governance, law, and internal security segments of the UPSC syllabus.
Criminal Procedure Code – CrPC
The administration of India was taken over after the rebellion of 1857 by the British crown and subsequently, the Criminal Procedure Code was enacted in the year 1861.

The enactment of 1861 made the European natives immune from the jurisdiction of the criminal courts except for the high Court.
The code was amended in the years 1872, 1882 and 1898 to ensure uniform application over British and Indian subjects.
The legacy of British India continued until the present Code came into effect in the year 1973.
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Section 144 CrPC was invoked by the police forces across the country to contain the nation-wide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Read in detail about the Citizenship Amendment Act CAA 2019 on the linked page.