India: Supreme Court recriminalises "carnal intercourse against the order of nature"

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

4-2014

Abstract

The Indian Penal Code 1860 in s.77 makes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" punishable with imprisonment for life. In Suresh Kumar Koushal v NAZ Foundation, reversing a 2009 decision of the Delhi High Court, the Supreme Court concluded that the provision is constitutionally valid. As a result, India now rejoins 76 other jurisdictions in criminalising same-sex behavior. The decision is for the most part poorly written and insufficiently reasoned, and the four strands of arguments, individually and collectively, leave much to be desired.

Keywords

Colonial legislation, Constitutional rights, Constitutionality; Homosexuality, India, Presumptions, Sexual offences

Discipline

Asian Studies | Constitutional Law | Courts

Publication

Public Law

First Page

344

Last Page

347

ISSN

0033-3565

Publisher

Sweet and Maxwell

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