Ex-CJI UU Lalit: ‘BNS Missed Chance to Make Rape Laws Gender-Neutral, Male Victims Left Without Remedy’


New Delhi – Former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit has raised concerns that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 missed a crucial opportunity to make rape laws gender-neutral, leaving adult male victims of sexual assault without legal recourse.


Delivering a lecture organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association on “BNS 2023 and IPC 1860: Continuity, Change and Challenges”, Justice Lalit said the repeal of Section 377 IPC has left a legal vacuum.


“If an adult male is subjected to sexual assault without consent, there is today no provision under which he can ventilate his grievance. That to my mind is completely an incorrect idea,” he observed, adding, “We have not only thrown the bathwater, we have also thrown the baby.”


Justice Lalit recalled that after the 2012 Nirbhaya case, the Justice JS Verma Committee had recommended making Section 375 IPC gender-neutral. A 2013 ordinance even included male victims, but this provision was not retained in subsequent laws.


He noted some progress in the BNS 2023, such as the shift from “minor girl” under IPC Section 366A to “child” under Section 96 of BNS, making it gender-neutral, as well as the retention of gender-neutral provisions on buying and selling minors for prostitution (Sections 98 and 99).


In 2022, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea by law students Anam Kamil and Shrikant Prasad seeking gender-neutral laws, observing that such matters fell within the legislative domain. The petitioners had argued that misuse of sexual offence laws against men was rising and that men too face harassment and cruelty.


Justice Lalit’s remarks have reignited debate on whether India’s rape laws should be amended to include male victims, in line with global discussions on gender neutrality in sexual offence legislation.

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