A uniform civil code that keeps in mind women’s rights, a definition of a ‘child’ that has a single age limit and the removal of contradictory provisions of the Indian Penal Code that deal with sexual assault were some of the suggestions that emerged from a consultation held by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Taking stock of India’s human rights record, the NHRC organised a national-level consultation on August 12 and 13. Stakeholders, including activists and government officials, discussed prevailing condition and recommended changes to improve human rights in India.
The consultation was organised as part of the NHRC’s process of preparing a report for the Third Universal Periodic Review of human rights to be done by the United Nations next year.
The U.N.’s Human Rights Council carries out a review every four years for its member nations.
Based on reports by the NHRC, the Home Ministry and NGOs, the U.N. makes recommendations to the government.
IPC sections 377 and 375
An NHRC statement said India should “work towards having a uniform civil code from women’s perspective to enable them to have equal rights, irrespective of their religion, to ensure a secular justice system,” (sic).
Another suggestion was to remove provisions of Section 377 of the IPC, which deals with unnatural sex but has been used to criminalise the LGBT community, and Section 375, which deals with rape, as they contradict each other.
“Do away with provisions under Section 377 and 375 IPC, which are contradictory to each other as acts that are non-criminal under Section 375 IPC remain criminal under Section 377 IPC,” said the NHRC statement.
The NHRC also suggested doing away with different age limits for children.
For example, the age of a child is defined differently when it comes to prosecution for criminal offences or extending benefits under child rights’ laws.
While these were the suggestions taken into account, the NHRC’s report for the Universal Periodic Review could include or exclude some of these points.
An NHRC source said that the report would be compiled soon. India is expected to submit its national report to the U.N. by February 2017.
