NEW DELHI: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed with the Delhi High Court, challenging the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act for lacking legal measures against non-consensual sodomy and other ‘unnatural’ sexual acts.
The PIL was brought before the division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on Monday, who have scheduled the case for further hearing on Tuesday.
Under the now-repealed Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 377 had mandated severe penalties, including life imprisonment or a maximum of ten years imprisonment, for engaging in “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” with any person or animal. This section was largely decriminalised by the Supreme Court in its 2018 Navtej Singh Johar ruling, which legalised consensual sexual acts between adults.
The Supreme Court had specified that while consensual acts were no longer criminalised, Section 377 would still apply to non-consensual sexual acts involving adults, all acts of sexual intercourse with minors, and bestiality.
The BNS, which replaced the IPC in July, does not include provisions for punishing non-consensual ‘unnatural’ sexual acts, a gap that has drawn criticism.
The LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual) movement culminated in the historic decriminalisation of Section 377, which gave homosexuality a criminal status. Still, Section 377 was retained in the IPC, criminalising sexual offences against animals, men, and transgenders.
Moreover, IPC Section 377 also covers sexual cruelty to animals; now, those who commit such acts would also go unprosecuted. PETA India also sounded an alarm and wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December of last year.
Experts have expressed concern that the absence of an equivalent legal framework leaves victims, including men and transgender individuals, without adequate protection and legal recourse in cases of rape and similar offenses.
The PIL aims to address this critical oversight and ensure that the new legal code provides comprehensive safeguards against all forms of non-consensual sexual violence.