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Two law students have filed a plea in the Apex Court seeking directions to make gender neutral laws and  reconsider the misuse of laws under the Indian Penal Code relating to sexual harassment (u/s 354A-354D), Criminal intimidation (506), intent to insult modesty of a woman ( U/s 509), Rape( U/s 376), Cruelty to women (U/s 498 A).

The petition filed by law students Anam Kamil and Shrikant Prasad have submitted  that the trend of misuse of sexual offences laws by women is at rise in the country ,where the respect ,honour,dignity of men are sabotaged by the society merely when an allegation of sexual related offence is made.

Referring to the recent case of lucknow where a girl was seen slapping a cab driver in a brutal manner, the petitioners have stated that “the females in India are defeating the real sense of feminism by doing such a cheap acts for mere publicity and public attraction by calling them as 'Betiyan' while other side the males are declared darinda”.

The petitioners have vehemently argued that Sec 354A-354D ,376,509,498A of the Indian Penal code are "women centric" and "gender inequality laws" and violative of Article 14, 19 and 21  of the Indian Constitution. It has been argued that  “these laws were made about 150 years ago when there was actually need of such laws for upliftment of women in the society .Now everything has developed and the gender who developed in a real sense are women ,who are at top in every field”, the petitioners have submitted.

Quoting ”Laws are like double-edged weapons. If they are made to protect the rights of a person, they can also be misused to throttle the liberty of opponents”, the petitioners have questioned the provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

The petitioners have argued:

• why the sec 128A of IPC is gender biased law ,why the identity of accused man is not protected and is made viral which demolishes the reputation ,honour and dignity of an individual framed in any case of sexual offence merely on an allegation?
• why there is no provision of taking stringent action against women who file false sexual offences cases against  men merely with an ill-will?

The petitioners have argued that “In today’s world, women are also harassing males and subjecting them to cruelty. Hence the petitioners have submitted that these laws should be amended according to the present needs and situation in the same manners as the decriminalization of Homosexuality by the Court in 2018.

Case Title: Anam Kamil and Anr vs UOI and Ors