Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill scraps 'unnatural sex' offence, in a move away from colonial laws

In the recently proposed set of fresh criminal legislation, the Indian government has scrapped the colonial-era offence of 'unnatural sex,' which is punishable with a ten-year jail term in the Indian Penal Code.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, omits provisions from Section 377, which includes the phrase, "whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal commits unnatural offence."

In a 2018 judgement, a five-judge Supreme Court bench decriminalised consensual sexual relations in private among adult members of the LGBTQ community by reading down Section 377.


'Unnatural sex' is mentioned in two other sections in the IPC, sections that the BNS has retained without any changes. Section 100, which provides for the right to private (self) defence, permits a person, who is being subjected to unnatural sex, to inflict injury or cause death of the assailant and that he would not be liable to be punished for the act to save himself from being sodomised. An identical provision now finds mention under Section 38 of the BNS.

Section 367(4) provides that a person, who kidnaps someone to satiate his "unnatural lust", would be liable to be punished with a 10-year imprisonment. An identical provision is now under Section 138(4) of the BNS.

Though the British had codified the penal law in 1860 through an exercise that lasted more than 20 years, the NDA government's exercise is merely two to three years-old. Interestingly, in 1957, UK published the Wolfenden Committee Report, which recognised how the anti-sodomy laws had created an atmosphere for blackmail, harassment and violence against homosexuals.

Pursuant to this report, the House of Lords initiated legislation to de-criminalise homosexual acts done in private by consenting parties. The Sexual Offences Act, 1967 was passed in England which de-criminalised homosexual acts , provided the parties consented to it, and were above the age of 21.

More than 125 countries have decriminalised same-sex relationships among consenting adults.