New Delhi
TNN
India took a giant, albeit belated, step towards globalisation on Thursday when the Delhi high court delivered a historic judgement to Gay activists celebrate after the Delhi High Court decriminalized homosexuality by striking down section 377 of the IPC, outside the court in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)amend a 149-year-old colonial-era law — Section 377 of the IPC — and decriminalize private consensual sex between adults of the same sex. It is the biggest victory yet for gays rights and a major milestone in the country’s social evolution. India becomes the 127th country to take the guilt out of homosexuality.
Pride parade, Chennai
In a judgment that has aroused strong reactions from religious and political groups, the court declared that Section 377 IPC, where it “criminalized consensual sexual acts of adults in private”, violated fundamental rights to personal liberty (Article 21 of the Constitution) and equality (Article 14) and prohibition of discrimination (Article 15).
Upholding the petition filed by Naz Foundation, the court ruled: “Indian constitutional law does not permit the statutory criminal law to be held captive by the popular misconceptions of who the LGBTs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) are. It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is antithesis of equality and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster the dignity of every individual.”
“There is almost unanimous medical and psychiatric opinion that homosexuality is not a disease or a disorder and is just another expression of human sexuality,” the court observed.
Political parties seemed divided. The CPM welcomed the judgement, while Samajwadi Party said it was totally opposed to it. Both Congress and BJP sought to buy time in order to assess the popular opinion — both said they would have to study the order before commenting on it. BJP leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi, though, came out in opposition, indicating an emerging left-right divide on the issue.
