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Section 377 AI simulator
(@Section 377_simulator)
Hub AI
Section 377 AI simulator
(@Section 377_simulator)
Section 377
Section 377 is a British colonial Penal Code provision that criminalized all sexual acts "against the order of nature". The law was used to prosecute people engaging in oral and anal sex along with homosexual activity. As per a Supreme Court of India judgement since 2018, the Indian Penal Code Section 377 is used to convict non-consensual sexual activities among homosexuals with a minimum of ten years' imprisonment extended to life imprisonment. It has been used to criminalize third gender people, such as the apwint in Myanmar. In 2018, then British Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged how the legacies of such British colonial anti-sodomy laws continue to persist today in the form of discrimination, violence, and even death.
Although the act of sodomy was sometimes prosecuted in England under British common law, it was first codified in the British empire as Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code as "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" in 1860. Section 377 was then exported to other colonies and even to England itself, providing the legal model for the act of 'buggery' in the Offences Against the Person Act (1861). Alok Gupta wrote for a Human Rights Watch report in 2008 that the British intended for the code to prevent Christian colonial subjects from "corruption", and to condition colonized subjects undergoing Christianization to conform to colonial authority. This consequently had a big impact on colonial-era sexuality in India.
Although Section 377 did not explicitly include the word homosexual, it has been used to prosecute homosexual activity. The provision was introduced by authorities in the Raj in 1862 as Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and functioned as the legal impetus behind the criminalization of what was referred to as, "unnatural offences" throughout the various colonies, in several cases with the same section number.
In Singapore, a similar law called Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code was introduced in 1938 by the colonial government that had also criminalized sex between men. In 2022, then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had announced that the provision would be repealed. It was repealed on 29 November 2022 when the bill passed in Parliament.[citation needed]
Although most colonies have since gained independence through statehood since Section 377 was implemented, it remains in the penal codes of the following countries, all of which were formerly a part of the British Empire:
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was a section of the Indian Penal Code introduced in 1861 during the British rule of India. Modeled on the Buggery Act 1533, it made sexual activities "against the order of nature" illegal. On 6 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the application of Section 377 to consensual homosexual sex between adults was unconstitutional, "irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary", but that Section 377 remained in force relating to sex with minors, non-consensual sexual acts, and bestiality. Section 377 was fully replaced along with the rest of the Indian Penal Code by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on 1 July 2024.
Portions of the section were first struck down as unconstitutional with respect to gay sex by the Delhi High Court in July 2009. That judgement was overturned by the Supreme Court of India (SC) on 11 December 2013 in Suresh Kumar Koushal vs. Naz Foundation. The Court held that amending or repealing section 377 should be a matter left to Parliament, not the judiciary. On 6 February 2016, a three-member bench of the Court reviewed curative petitions submitted by the Naz Foundation and others, and decided that they would be reviewed by a five-member constitutional bench.
On 24 August 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution in the landmark Puttaswamy judgement. The Court also called for equality and condemned discrimination, stated that the protection of sexual orientation lies at the core of the fundamental rights and that the rights of the LGBT population are real and founded on constitutional doctrine. This judgement was believed to imply the unconstitutionality of section 377.
Section 377
Section 377 is a British colonial Penal Code provision that criminalized all sexual acts "against the order of nature". The law was used to prosecute people engaging in oral and anal sex along with homosexual activity. As per a Supreme Court of India judgement since 2018, the Indian Penal Code Section 377 is used to convict non-consensual sexual activities among homosexuals with a minimum of ten years' imprisonment extended to life imprisonment. It has been used to criminalize third gender people, such as the apwint in Myanmar. In 2018, then British Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged how the legacies of such British colonial anti-sodomy laws continue to persist today in the form of discrimination, violence, and even death.
Although the act of sodomy was sometimes prosecuted in England under British common law, it was first codified in the British empire as Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code as "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" in 1860. Section 377 was then exported to other colonies and even to England itself, providing the legal model for the act of 'buggery' in the Offences Against the Person Act (1861). Alok Gupta wrote for a Human Rights Watch report in 2008 that the British intended for the code to prevent Christian colonial subjects from "corruption", and to condition colonized subjects undergoing Christianization to conform to colonial authority. This consequently had a big impact on colonial-era sexuality in India.
Although Section 377 did not explicitly include the word homosexual, it has been used to prosecute homosexual activity. The provision was introduced by authorities in the Raj in 1862 as Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and functioned as the legal impetus behind the criminalization of what was referred to as, "unnatural offences" throughout the various colonies, in several cases with the same section number.
In Singapore, a similar law called Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code was introduced in 1938 by the colonial government that had also criminalized sex between men. In 2022, then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had announced that the provision would be repealed. It was repealed on 29 November 2022 when the bill passed in Parliament.[citation needed]
Although most colonies have since gained independence through statehood since Section 377 was implemented, it remains in the penal codes of the following countries, all of which were formerly a part of the British Empire:
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was a section of the Indian Penal Code introduced in 1861 during the British rule of India. Modeled on the Buggery Act 1533, it made sexual activities "against the order of nature" illegal. On 6 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the application of Section 377 to consensual homosexual sex between adults was unconstitutional, "irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary", but that Section 377 remained in force relating to sex with minors, non-consensual sexual acts, and bestiality. Section 377 was fully replaced along with the rest of the Indian Penal Code by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on 1 July 2024.
Portions of the section were first struck down as unconstitutional with respect to gay sex by the Delhi High Court in July 2009. That judgement was overturned by the Supreme Court of India (SC) on 11 December 2013 in Suresh Kumar Koushal vs. Naz Foundation. The Court held that amending or repealing section 377 should be a matter left to Parliament, not the judiciary. On 6 February 2016, a three-member bench of the Court reviewed curative petitions submitted by the Naz Foundation and others, and decided that they would be reviewed by a five-member constitutional bench.
On 24 August 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution in the landmark Puttaswamy judgement. The Court also called for equality and condemned discrimination, stated that the protection of sexual orientation lies at the core of the fundamental rights and that the rights of the LGBT population are real and founded on constitutional doctrine. This judgement was believed to imply the unconstitutionality of section 377.