NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a plea highlighting exclusion of the penal provisions for the offences of unnatural sex and sodomy from the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.
Supreme Court Rejects Plea Against Exclusion of Unnatural Sex and Sodomy from BNS
A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it cannot compel the Parliament to introduce laws, and also it can't create an offence.
The BNS came into force on July 1, 2024, replacing the British-era Indian Penal Code.
Parliamentary Domain: SC Highlights Its Limitations in Lawmaking
Hearing a plea by Pooja Sharma, the bench said that the issue brought up before the court fell within the parliamentary domain.
"We can't compel Parliament to introduce laws. We can't create an offence...this court under Article 142 cannot direct that a particular act constitutes an offence. Such exercise falls under parliamentary domain," the bench said.
The court, however, permitted the petitioner to approach the government with a representation on the issue, brought before it.
Sharma, in her plea, sought to highlight “exigent legal lacuna” resulting from the enactment of the BNS.
Section 377 and the Decriminalization of Same-Sex Relationships
It is to be noted Section 377 of the IPC punished non-consensual "unnatural sex" between two adults, sexual activities against minors and bestiality.
On September 6, 2018, the Supreme Court had decriminalised same-sex relationships between two consenting adults.
In August 2024, the Delhi High Court had asked the Centre to make its stand clear on the exclusion of penal provisions for the offences of unnatural sex and sodomy from the recently introduced BNS.
The High Court had said the legislature needs to take care of the issue of non-consensual unnatural sex.
