The code was drafted on the recommendations of the first Law Commission of India established in 1834 under the Charter Act 1833 under the chairmanship of Thomas Babington Macaulay.

[4] The draft of the Indian Penal Code was prepared by the First Law Commission, chaired by Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1834 and was submitted to Governor-General of India Council in 1835.

The drafting was completed in 1850 and the code was presented to the Legislative Council in 1856, but it did not take its place on the statute book of British India until a generation later, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

In February 2015, the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice was asked by the Government to prepare a draft Amendment Bill in this regard.

[16] In an August 2015 ruling, the Rajasthan High Court made the Jain practice of undertaking voluntary death by fasting at the end of a person's life, known as Santhara, punishable under sections 306 and 309 of the IPC.

[17][18] On 31 August 2015, the Supreme Court admitted the petition by Akhil Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Parishad and granted leave.

[21][22] This section was unanimously struck down on 27 September 2018 by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in case of Joseph Shine v. Union of India as being unconstitutional and demeaning to the dignity of women.

[24] In 2003, the Malimath Committee submitted its report recommending several far-reaching penal reforms including separation of investigation and prosecution (similar to the CPS in the UK) to streamline criminal justice system.

Nicholas Phillips, Justice of Supreme Court of the United Kingdom applauded the efficacy and relevance of the IPC while commemorating its 150 years of existence.

[28] Some references to specific sections (called dafā/dafa'a in Hindi-Urdu, دفعہ or दफ़ा/दफ़आ) of the IPC have entered popular speech in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.