Parliamentary Panel Recommends Retaining IPC Sec 377, Adultery Provisions In Proposed Criminal Law

The parliamentary panel, headed by BJP MP Brij Lal, examined Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam on Friday.

The parliamentary panel examined Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.

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New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs recommended retaining IPC section 377 provisions related to non-consensual sex between men, women and trans persons, and sexual act with minors in the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The panel also suggested the IPC provisions related to adultery be retained in the proposed law, news agency PTI reported.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, the proposed law that seeks to replace IPC, had removed Section 377.

During the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, the government had tabled three Bills on Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam in the Lok Sabha. These Bills seeks to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

The parliamentary panel, headed by BJP MP Brij Lal, examined the BNS and two other proposed laws on Friday.

The panel said a five-judge Supreme Court bench unanimously observed that Section 377 of IPC violates Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. But the IPC section remains applicable for non-consensual sex between adults, all sexual acts with minors, and acts of bestiality. However, the new law Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita does not have any provision for non-consensual sexual acts against male, female, trans persons and bestiality.

Taking this into consideration, the panel recommended to the government to retain IPC section 377 in the proposed law.

On Section 497, that pertains to adultery, the panel said that the top court had struck it down noting that it violated Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Constitution.

"In this regard, the committee is of the view that the institution of marriage is considered sacred in Indian society and there is a need to safeguard its sanctity. For the sake of protecting the institution of marriage, this section should be retained in the Sanhita by making it gender neutral," the parliamentary committee said in a statement.