NEW DELHI – Indian Supreme Court declared on Thursday gay sex legal,saying consensual sex between adults, which is not harmful to women orchildren, cannot be denied as it the choice of an individual.
Partially scrapping Section 377, which bans consensual gay sex, afive-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Mishra, said the law is‘irrational, arbitrary and incomprehensible,’ adding that LGBT communityhas equal rights in society like other citizens.
In four separate but concurring verdicts, the five judges of the apex courtannounced that the section failed to make a distinction between consensualand non-consensual acts. Bestiality will also continue to be a crime undersection 377.
“It had become a weapon for the harassment for LGBT and subject them todiscrimination,” Chief Justice Misra said.
The top court reversed its own 2013 decision.
The high court had decriminalised consensual gay sex in 2009 but the topcourt had cancelled the order four years later, ruling that only parliamentshould be changing laws, Hindustan Times reported.
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In 2016, the top court, however, agreed to take up a petition by fiveprominent members of the LGBT, or lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendercommunity Bharatnatyam dancer Navtej Johar, culture expert Aman Nath,restaurateurs Ritu Dalmia and Ayesha Kapur and media person Sunil Mehra,challenging the British-era law, section 377.
Later, a five-member bench was set up to determine if the provisionviolates fundamental rights assured by the constitution. The hearing wasconcluded in July.
The petitioners argued that Section 377 violates rights and principlesguaranteed by the constitution, like equality before law, no discriminationbased on religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and freedom of speechand expression.
Huge crowd of gay activists and people from different backgrounds, fightingfor the scrapping of Section 377 were gathered outside the court to hearthe landmark the verdict.
