Major Arguments Made by the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court made the following important points in favor of decriminalization:
- According to Article 14, all Indian citizens have equal rights despite their caste, creed, or color. To know more, please refer to Article 14.
- The Court upheld the supremacy of constitutional morality, stating that equality before the law cannot be denied by giving preference to religious or public morality.
- The Supreme Court also considered the fact that according to modern psychiatry, homosexuality is not a mental disorder. Also, the fact that animals also indulge in homosexual acts means that it is not against nature’s way.
- Additionally, the Supreme Court declared that Indian law should be governed by the “Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Law about Issues of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.” These are some guidelines that deal with how international human rights law should be applied to gender identity and sexual orientation.
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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