Centre Puts The Onus Of Deciding Section 377 Fate On Top Court

By OB Bureau On Jul 11, 2018

New Delhi: The NDA government, on Wednesday, said it has left it to the Supreme Court to decide decriminalisation of 150-year-old ban on gay sex in India. The court is free to decide on the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, it added.

“We leave it to the wisdom of the court,” the government’s lawyer said in the Supreme Court.

Change in government’s stand on gay sex law came after Supreme Court’s order on Right To Privacy, which was last year declared as a fundamental right.

Here is all you need to know about the case:

An affidavit declaring government’s stand was submitted in the court on Wednesday. It said if the court declares, “Section 377 to be unconstitutional, the government will not go into any other issue”.
The government also said, if the court decides to examine any other question other than constitutional validity of Section 377, or construe any other right in favour of or in respect of LGBT, the court will have to file a detailed affidavit.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who heads a five-judge constitution bench hearing the case, said only challenges to Section 377 will be decided. The civil rights to be followed will be decided later.
Justice J Chandrachud, part of the bench, said they do not want a situation where two homosexuals enjoying a walk on Marine Drive should be disturbed by the police and charged under Section 377.
A clutch of petitions want the law of criminalizing gay sex to be scrapped while other asked the court for a relook into this 2013 judgement.
The bench, on Tuesday, said it would examine the “correctness” of its verdict of 2013, that had cancelled a judgement declaring the criminalization of gay sex to be unconstitutional.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code says sex “against the order of nature” draws a jail term and a fine.