Unnatural sex and extramarital relations are not a crime: Modi government brought BNS in place of British IPC, Amit Shah presented a new draft in Parliament

Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented the new draft of ‘Indian Judicial Code’ i.e. BNS in Parliament on Tuesday (December 12, 2023) after amendments. The new version of the BNS (Second) Bill, 2023, introduced in the Lok Sabha has decriminalized unnatural sex and adultery, ignoring the recommendations of a parliamentary committee.

Actually, BNS is proposed to replace the British era ‘Indian Penal Code’ (IPC). In this matter, the government has decided to exclude Section 377 and Section 497 from the BNS Bill despite the recommendations of the parliamentary panel. Section 377 is related to having sex against nature and Section 497 is related to adultery. The Supreme Court has already rejected both these sections.

The provisions of these sections were canceled by the Supreme Court, declaring them a violation of rights and illegal. In 2018, the Supreme Court removed adultery from the category of crime. However, divorce can be taken on this basis. This year in 2023, the Supreme Court decriminalized consensual sex between same-sex couples.

Along with this, with the Supreme Court rejecting these sections, unnatural sexual relations between homosexuals and consensual extra-marital sexual relations called adultery became out of the category of crime. However, the country’s new Penal Code, or BNS Bill, has introduced a new provision making it punishable to disclose the identity or information related to victims of rape and sexual crimes.

Under this, the BNS Bill added a new section 73 to the provisions dealing with crimes against women and children. Under this, revealing the identity or information related to survivors of rape and sexual crimes in court proceedings can lead to a jail sentence of up to 2 years.

According to Section 73 of the BNS, “Whoever, without the previous permission of the Court, prints or publishes any matter of any proceeding pending in any Court in respect of an offense mentioned in Section 72, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description or imprisonment for the same period.” This can be extended up to 2 years. Apart from punishing it, fine can also be imposed.”

However, it has also been made clear that printing or printing the judgment of the Supreme Court and the High Court will not be considered an offense under this section. Section 72 prohibits printing or publishing material that reveals the identity of a victim of a sexual offence.

It is noteworthy that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs led by Brij Lal had presented its report in Parliament on December 4, 2023. In this, the parliamentary panel had recommended the inclusion of Section 377 in its read-down form to maintain the sanctity of marriage, i.e. prosecution of homosexual and non-consensual sexual relations. Along with this, a recommendation was also made to retain Section 497.

Under Section 497, “Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who knows or has reason to believe that she is the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, that is to say, Such sexual intercourse with someone else’s wife does not fall under the category of rape, but a man who has sexual intercourse with someone else’s wife will be considered guilty of the crime of adultery. He may be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such a case, the wife will not be punished as the seducer.”