The Supreme Court recently decriminalised homosexuality by striking off parts of Section 377 of the IPC, which were held violative of Fundamental Rights of LGBTQ Community
Background
- Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code dating back to 1860, introduced during the British rule of India, criminalises sexual activities “against the order of nature”, including homosexual sexual activities.
- The law affects the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population, in particular, but its provisions can also be applied to heterosexual citizens
- Prior to that, sexual activities, including amongst homosexuals, were not penalised in India.
Various judgements on Section 377
- In 2001, the Naz Foundation, a New Delhi-based NGO that works in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention, had challenged the section in the Delhi high court
- The Delhi HC in 2009 decriminalised sex between consenting adults of the same gender
- Decision which was overturned only to by a two-judge Supreme Court bench in 2013
Recent judgement on Section 377
- Recently, Supreme Court declared that homosexuality is not an offence in India.
- A bench consisting of chief justice Dipak Misra and 4 other judges ruled that India’s LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community has the same sexual rights as everyone else.
- A new dawn for personal liberty and is a major victory for the LGBTQ community that has been fighting hard and persistently to legalise gay sex
