New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to re-examine its two-year-old verdict upholding the validity of Section 377 IPC insofar as it re-criminalises homosexuality between two consenting adults on the ground that there was no constitutional infirmity in this provision.
After a brief hearing of a batch of eight curative petitions seeking review of the verdict, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur, and including Justices Anil R. Dave and JS Khehar, posted the matter for hearing before a five-judge Constitution Bench that will now have to be constituted.
This gives fresh hope and major relief to the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community that was seeking a review of the earlier ruling.
In a brief order, the bench said, “There are important constitutional questions involved in the issue relating to decriminalising consensual gay sex within the privacy of a house, which needs to be examined by a Constitution Bench.”
When senior counsel Kapil Sibal wanted to know if the three judges, including the CJI, will be part of the five-judge bench, Justice Thakur said, “Now that we are referring it to a Constitution Bench, that may not be necessary.”
The court’s decision was widely welcomed by gay rights activists and supporters across the country.
