Decide plea on exclusion of penalty for unnatural sex in BNS: HC to Centre

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to treat as representation a PIL against exclusion of penal provisions for the offences of unnatural sex and sodomy from the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which replaced the Indian Penal Code. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gelela asked the Central government to expeditiously decide the representation, preferably within six months. The court disposed of the petition and granted liberty to the petitioner to approach the court for revival of plea in case there is a delay on the government's part to decide his representation. The court was hearing a PIL by Gantavya Gulati, a lawyer who was appearing in person, seeking to address the "exigent legal lacuna" resulting from the enactment of the BNS which has also led to the repeal of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The bench passed the order after the central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia submitted that the issue was under ...