Writing this in hurry, couldn’t have waited.
History have been created today in India, this morning Delhi High Court gave its judgment on the petition filed by Naz Foundation challenging the constitutionality of Section 377 of IPC which criminalizes all acts of oral and anal sex between individuals irrespective of age and consent.
High Court ruled in favour of the petition and said,
We declare that Section 377 IPC, insofar it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution. The provisions of Section 377 IPC will continue to govern non-consensual penile non-vaginal sex and penile non-vaginal sex involving minors. By ‘adult’ we mean everyone who is 18 years of age and above. A person below 18 would be presumed not to be able to consent to a sexual act.
The religious groups have already started reacting negatively. They say this is a sad day for civilised people. May their God help them.
The politicians are quiet, Law minister said he would react after reading the judgment.
The road ahead is still long, the next struggles would be about homosexuals couple’s property rights, adoption rights, marriage rights, domestic violence in intimate relations etc.
I have written more about this case earlier here.
A more detailed report in the making. Crossposted on Desicritics
congrats to everyone and to the judiciary!!
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This is awesome news! I am proud of the judiciary. The tireless efforts of the queer activists have finally paid off.
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hey its huge step forward..the judiciary have taken a really bold decision..
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Correct me if I am wrong.. Since this is a High Court Decision and the Constitution has not been amended formally, doesn’t this mean that it is applicable only to the State of Delhi as of now and other High Courts can come to a different conclusion unless Supreme Court puts the matter to rest..
PS: Constitutional law was never my forte :D
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@seema
I think since its a matter of deciding whether a particular law is violative of Fundamental Rights other High Courts might take the same stand without even hearing the matter as long as the facts of any subsequent petition remains the same. So, lets say a police man is bothering a consenting gay couple in a different state, that couple may file a petition claiming the police action as arbitrary action and can show this judgment in their support.
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good news from india
this is a milestone !!
a battle is won – but the fight has just began
it is still a long way from the law to the tolerance in the society.
love is a human right – no matter how !
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to Sanjukta
although I understand your stand regarding the applicability of this judgment of DHC in all other states (in your reply to seema) but my question to you is that, Is there any LEGAL/CONSTITUTIONAL/PRECEDENTIAL AUTHORITY supporting the applicability of this judgment in other states, especially when its a constitutional matter involving the violation of fundamental rights???
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@ Sourav: yes, here is the link
http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1876565/
although it is challenge to the constitutionality of a parliamentary act i.e not violation of fundamental rights per se
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