India’s penal code is antiquated and unjust

Harsh laws on free speech, homosexuality, and adultery are remnants of British colonial rule and Victorian sensibilities and are unworthy of a true democracy, writes Shashi Tharoor

SEEMINGLY unrelated controversies in India have a common element: they all relate to criminal offences codified by India’s British imperial rulers in the mid-19th century and which India has been unable or unwilling to outgrow.

The problematic features of the British-drafted Indian Penal Code include the prohibition of ‘sedition,’ defined loosely as speech or actions promoting “disaffection against the government established by law”; the criminalisation of homosexual acts; and the uneven prosecution of adultery.