Plea seeking status quo on Section 377 dismissed by Madras H

The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition to restrain the Union government from repealing, amending, modifying or relaxing Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

The Section states that whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for a term which may extend to 10 years and also liable to fine.

A Division Bench, comprising Justices V. Ramasubramanian and D. Hariparanthaman, said that the relief sought by the petitioner appeared to be “very innocuous. But, there is something more to it than what meets the eye.”

The judges said that the petitioner must have vented his grievance either before Parliament or the Supreme Court, which was seized of an appeal against a Delhi High Court judgment striking down Section 377 of the IPC.

“Without resorting to these methods, the petitioner has come up with this PIL, which is not only maintainable, but also an abuse of process of law,” the judges said.