CHENNAI: Homosexuality may have been decriminalised by the Supreme Court, but in the case of lack of consent, obviously, it will be a punishable offense, the Madras High Court has clarified. This point came up in the case of Bala Dhanapal, who is serving a life term on charges of murdering a retired Navy officer. The case dates back to 2014. Viswanathan (63), who retired as Commander in the Indian Navy after serving 17 years, was a resident of Sengodampalayam in Erode. His wife and son were living in America. Viswanathan is said to have promised Dhanapal a job in the Navy in return for sexual favours.
Finally, after a period of time, when Dhanapal found out that he was being cheated, and that he would not get a job, he attacked Viswanathan with an iron rod. The trial court awarded him life imprisonment in murder case after which, he went for an appeal. After hearing appeal, a division bench of Justices M M Sundresh and RMT Teekaa Raman reduced sentence to eight years.
The bench clarified that having consensual homosexual relationships on previous occasions cannot be held against the victim. He cannot be denied his self-dignity due to submission on earlier occasions. Though consensual homosexuality has been decriminalised, in case of false promise or refusal, it still holds ground for offence, the bench said.
Applying this yardstick, and also holding that the prosecution has not given any evidence for premeditation for committing the crime of the murder, the bench granted the reprieve to Dhanapal. The Supreme Court has not stuck down Sec. 377 of the IPC but had merely read it down and interpreted it.