Thoughts on Indian Penal Code

US Supreme Court decision on couple of cases has this week given impetus towards making homosexuality accepted on par with heterosexuality in US. The point where things are equal is going to take some time to happen. Things are well under way and that can only be good news.

This brought me to think about homosexuality in India. With the high court decision from 2009 watering down the section 377 of Indian Penal Code, it can be inferred that consensual sexual acts between adults are now permissible.

In reality though, things still need to improve much more. As society, it is disgraceful if part of society are persecuted because their personal choices are different as compared to others. And this acceptability needs to be communicated aggressively. With communication, India can expect that maybe in another 20 years, a homosexual person might feel ok to declare their preference in most of country, and not just in metro cities.  

If i think about it, i have wondered why doesn't Indian government, together with judiciary, just revise the entire penal code. It is great achievement that this code has survived from 1860 and retains significant parts of original. At the same time, things have changed significantly in last 150 years and  the law should evolve together with reality. 

Sometimes when one hears about fines of few thousand rupees for millionaires, it is clear that the amount that was high in past is not enough today. 

To great extent, Judiciary has lot of respect and most of people do believe that the highest judges in India are with good character and make fair decisions. At the same time, there is significant frustration among those who have to deal with lawyers or courts in any format. I know a few people in my life who have had to be involved with court cases and the delays in court making decision is just sad. 

I come from family which has some lawyers and most cases the lawyers handle take multiple years, if not decades, to come to conclusion. For lawyers, this is preferable as they keep on making money through fees. Those involved as litigant sometimes lose everything, hope being the first to go. A just society is one where law follows common sense and can be trusted to treat supplicants fairly, in terms of decision and time. Structurally Indian law is there but if i ask those who have had to closely deal with it, the reality is much sadder.