7.7.18

SC to begin fresh hearing: LGBTQ rights

A rainbow of hope emerged afresh for the LGBTQ community as the Supreme Court set up a five-judge bench to hear from Tuesday a batch of new petitions seeking constitutional protection to the gay community’s sexual orientation through decriminalisation of Section 377 of IPC.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra will head the bench, which will include Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, to hear the writ petition filed two years ago by dancer N S Johar, journalist Sunil Mehra, chef Ritu Dalmia, hotelier Aman Nath and business executive Ayesha Kapur.

Naz Foundation was the first to file a petition in December, 2001 in the Delhi high court, which had on July 2, 2009 decriminalised Section 377 by ruling that no adult would be prosecuted for indulging in consensual sex in private with another adult irrespective of gender. Tuesday’s hearing holds out hope to the LGBT community as the bench includes Justice Chandrachud, who held the fundamental nature of right to privacy and said sexual orientation is part of this right.

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