MARXIST AND PATRILINEAL CRITIQUE OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860
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Abstract
The post-enlightenment period in England is characterized by the coming up of the era of capitalism. This era is characterized by the growing of individualism and protection of individual rights and property. The Indian Penal Code was drafted by Lord Macaulay in 1860 and the drafting was influenced by British ideology. The IPC is the product of a particular time and place, cultural and intellectual context, and an expression of British imperial policies. As it is based on the principles and rules of Capitalism, in this paper I am going to present a Marxist critique on capitalism in reference to the Penal Code. Acc. To Marxists, all dependence upon a juridical system was to define private property, contract and the rights of men. Theory of Marxist follow the social theories based on two conflicting classes in society, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, I am going to argue how the criminal code has been drafted to favor the bourgeoisie class in India. The power of bourgeoisie was used to regulate authority through regulating the law. The coming up of individual property rights has further led to classification of crimes with the sole motive of protection of property. For conflict theorists, the law is not a neutral system of dispute settlement designed to protect everyone, but rather the tool of the privileged who criminalize acts that are contrary to their interests. Everything was conceptualized in terms of property and the power was shifted in the hands of male in the society. Women were oppressed both by gender inequality due to their social position in a sexist culture and by class inequality due to their economic position in a capitalist society.
This paper will highlight all those sections which prove that Indian Penal Code was drafted strictly to protect the property of the men. However several amendments have been made to improve this situation but not to eradicate the problem as a whole. The paper is divided into three sections, the first section talks about the relation between capitalism and drafting of Indian Penal Code, the second section talks about the regulation of power and property in relation to disadvantages by Indian Penal Code, the third section talks about the patriarchal dominance and origin of family in Indian Penal Code.
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