Section 69 Of The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: A Critical Analysis Of Consent, Deceit, And The Carceral Regulation Of Intimacy
Subha, Research Scholar, Bharti Vishwavidyalaya, Durg, Chhattisgarh
ABSTRACT
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 replaces the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and, in doing so, introduces Section 69 as a standalone offence penalising sexual intercourse obtained by deceitful means or a false promise of marriage. Prior to the BNS, such allegations were prosecuted through a combined reading of Sections 375 and 90 of the IPC, a framework refined by the Supreme Court through the ‘false at inception’ test articulated in Pramod Suryabhan Pawar v. State of Maharashtra. This paper undertakes a doctrinal and critical analysis of Section 69, tracing its historical antecedents, its legislative architecture, and its early judicial interpretation. It argues that while the provision's decoupling of deceptive sex from rape resolves one doctrinal difficulty, its expansive definition of ‘deceitful means’ extending to false promises of employment, promotion, and the undefined concept of ‘identity suppression’ generates significant constitutional, evidentiary, and social risks. Drawing on feminist jurisprudence, comparative law from the United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada, and recent High Court decisions including Yeshas Kumar v. State of Karnataka, the paper contends that Section 69 risks reinforcing paternalistic conceptions of female sexual agency, enabling communal weaponisation of the ‘identity suppression’ clause, and fostering a ‘breakup-to-lockup’ culture of retaliatory litigation. The paper concludes with proposals for legislative clarification, statutory harmonisation, and judicial safeguards.
Keywords: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Section 69, consent, false promise to marry, sexual autonomy, identity suppression, criminal law reform.
