The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill which is proposed to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) does away with two contentious provisions on unnatural sex and adultery that were diluted and struck down respectively by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Under the IPC, Section 377 says “whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine”.
On September 6, 2018, a five-judge bench unanimously decriminalised a part of Section 377. However, the provision still stood in the statute book to deal with unnatural sexual offences against minors, against their consent and bestiality. In the new BNS Bill, there is no provision on “unnatural sex”. On September 27, 2018, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously struck off from the statute books Section 497 of IPC which made adultery a criminal offence for men but did not penalise women.
