Indian Supreme Court Judgment on Section 377
When the AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan released a seminal study titled “Less than Gay: A Citizen’s Report,” in 1991, the movement against Sec 377 got underway. The report outlined this Section’s shortcomings and made the case for its repeal. The Naz Foundation, an NGO, made the second and most current attempt at this approach. The group attempted to legalize homosexual unions between two consenting adults in 2001 by filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court. However, the petition was dismissed in 2004.
The Delhi High Court decriminalized homosexuality in 2009 after the Supreme Court ordered the Delhi HC to rehearse the case, concluding that consenting to gay relations between adults is not prohibited. But the verdict was again challenged by journalist Suresh Kumar Kaushal, in whose favour the decriminalisation of homosexuality in India was reversed in 2013. The Supreme Court handed over the decision to the Parliament.
This decision was met by a lot of outrage from the LGBTQ community in India and abroad who showed their rejection of the decision by holding protests. A lot of revision requests were made which were rejected by the Supreme Court.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code has been in controversy since earlier times. According to Section 377 of the Indian Constitution, it was considered a criminal act to indulge in sex between same-sex individuals. Over the years, Section 377 became the center of debate between various communities and the Indian Court of Law. The LGBTQ community was the most dissatisfied as it did not give them the right to privacy and divided them from the rest of the communities. On September 6, 2018, the Supreme Court gave the verdict of Decriminalizing Section 377.
In this article, you can read all about Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, its relation to the rights of the LGBTQ community, and the debate surrounding this topic for the UPSC exam.
Table of Content
- What is Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code?
- Major Arguments Made by the Supreme Court
- Indian Supreme Court Judgment on Section 377
- Section 377 of Indian Penal Code Amendment, 2018
- Decriminalization of Section 377
- 377 Indian Penal Code Punishment
- Impact of Decriminalising Homosexuality
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