Blitz Bureau
THE Supreme Court has refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking criminalisation of non-consensual unnatural sex and bestiality.
Headingthe Bench, CJI D.Y. Chandrachudsaid that the apex court cannot compel the legislature to classify a particular act as a criminal offence. However, the Bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, granted liberty to the petitioner to make a representation before the Union Government.
“It is not there in the new law…We cannot create an offence! This Court cannot under Article 142 direct that a particular act is an offence. It falls under the domain of Parliament. If the petitioner feels there is lacunae in law, representation may be given to Union of India,” CJI Chandrachud orally said.
The newly introduced Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), which replaced the IPC, does not recognise non-consensual unnatural sex, sodomy, and bestiality as a penal offence. Section 377 of the now-repealed Indian Penal Code (IPC) made it a punishable offence with a life sentence or 10-year imprisonment, along with a fine.
The PIL, filed under Article 32, read along with Article 142 of the Constitution, raised the grievance against the lacuna in the BNS, which failed to draw a parallel penal provision for offences which were formerly covered under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860.
