India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a new challenge to Penal Code Section 377, the colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex, thanks to a fresh petition from some leading Indian figures.
The petition by dancer N S Johar, journalist Sunil Mehra, chef Ritu Dalmia, hotelier Aman Nath and business executive Ayesha Kapur will come up for hearing before a bench of Justices S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan on June 29, when the SC resumes business after a 45-day vacation. Leading lawyers Kapil Sibal and Arvind Datar will argue for the petitioners.
The present petition changes the contours of a decade-and-a-half old legal fight on two counts. One, well-known LGBT personalities who have till now lived in fear of social persecution have overcome the fear of public humiliation to assert their sexual preference. Second, this is the first time people who are directly aggrieved by Section 377 have challenged its constitutional validity.
Their petition’s first paragraph is a bold declaration-“The petitioners are lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGBT) citizens of India whose rights to sexuality, sexual autonomy, choice of sexual partner, life, privacy, dignity and equality, along with the other fundamental rights guaranteed under Part-III of Constitution, are violated by Section 377.”
India’s law criminalizing gay sex was restored in a shocking ruling by the Indian Supreme Court in 2013 after being struck down in 2009.
