The Delhi high court has expressed strong displeasure at the Centre's failure to address a legal vacuum that leaves men and the LGBTQ+ community unprotected from sexual assault under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The high court restored the petition, which had been disposed of in August 2024, and directed the Centre to file an affidavit indicating the steps taken to ensure compliance with the order within four weeks.
The court noted that a period of 1.5 years was sufficient for deciding on the representation, but the decision was nowhere in sight.
The Centre's lawyer contended that the subject matter was sensitive and could only be decided after gathering the views of the stakeholders concerned.
The petitioner, Gantavya Gulati, highlighted that the BNS did not have a provision penalising forced unnatural sex, which posed a significant risk to the LGBTQ community.
Gulati urged the court to either restore the criminalisation of non-consensual sexual acts under a provision such as Section 377 or adopt a gender-neutral interpretation of the laws dealing with rape.
