janakiramarao yentrapati 15 September 2020
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate (Advocate) 16 September 2020
even before Supreme Court judgement the crime was non-cognizable and still police could take no action without complaint of victim.
SIVARAMAPRASAD KAPPAGANTU (Retired Manager) 16 September 2020
"...during his routine check..."? where it is being done? In a public place like Park or a Lodging? Male and Female having s*x with their mutual consent as rightly informed by Shri Sudhir Kumar was not a cognizable offense. But the point is where such s*xual activity is going on? Lewd exposure, indecent exposure, public s*x are treated as a public nuisance and hence termed as a criminal offense in many of the states, and rightly so.
Therefore, the mere fact that Courts said that s*x is okay between male and female although not legally wed husband and wife, does not automatically absolve them from laws that are still in force. It all depends on the circumstances under which such a couple having s*x is found. Besides the laws to prevent public nuisance, there is a law with goes by an abbreviation "SITA" full form of which is "The Immoral Traffic (Suppression) Act". Hence, Police Officials have to use their discretion while booking cases and ensure that criminal acts are not performed with impunity loosely quoting a Court pronouncement, twisting it out of context.
A. A. JOSE (LAWYER; LEGAL ADVISER/CONSULTANT& TRAINER) 16 September 2020
In the absence of legal provisions now to book such people as cited by you, Police is not expected to act against them and there is no question of their image involved as the image is Police force is well known to everynone, better not to talk about that please. One is afraid that even after the scrapping of IPC 497, Police may be eager to harass such people and indulge into corrupt practices.