IPC's Section 377: Supreme Court to hear plea for relook on verdict on gay sex today

February 2, 2016

New Delhi, Feb 2: The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hold an open court hearing of the curative petition by NGO Naz Foundation seeking relook at its verdict upholding the validity of Indian Penal Code's section 377 criminalising gay sex.

gaysex

A bench of three seniormost judges - Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar - would hold the open court of the issue that caused flutters both in legal circles and amongst gay rights activitsts after top court by its December 12, 2013 upheld the validity of section 377.

The apex court by its order of December 12, 2013 and subsequently in the review petition on January 28, 2014, upheld the validity of section 377, finding no constitutional infirmity in the penal provision that criminalises homosexuality.

Upholding the validity of section 377, the court had set aside the Delhi High Court verdict of July 2, 2009 by which it had read down section 377 and decriminalising consensual sex between the adults of same gender.

The then bench of Chief Justice P.Sathasivam, Justice R.M.Lodha, Justice H.L.Dattu and Justice S.J.Mukhopadhaya (all retired since then) had on April 3, 2014, directed the hearing of the curative petition in open court after they considered the plea by Naz Foundation in their chambers.

The NGO had moved the Supreme Court seeking to cure "gross miscarriage of justice" in its judgment upholding the validity of section 377. It had contended that 2013 amendment to section 375, which deals with rape, had held consensual sex between an adult male and woman was not an offence.

The curative petition had said that by implication, such sexual acts between man and woman, which are consensual, are no longer prohibited.

Consequently, these consensual acts between man and woman have been taken out of the ambit of section 377, otherwise the amended Section 375 would be rendered redundant, it contended, adding that section 377 now effectively only criminalises all forms of penetrative sex, including, penile-anal sex and penile oral sex, which makes it ex facie discriminatory against homosexual men and transgender persons and thus violative of article 14 of the constitution.

It had said that the amendments to section 375 were carried out after the judgment in the gay sex case was reserved and the parties did not have a chance to address the court on the issue, and the court ought to have heard the parties on the effect of the amendments to section 375 on Section 377.

The curative petition said that court had erred in upholding the classification between carnal intercourse in the ordinary course of nature and carnal intercourse against the order of nature under section 377, without recording a finding on the carnal intercourse against the order of nature. And whether there is a rational nexus with the object of legislation on this count.

The impugned judgment, it said, "reflects an issue bias against the LGBT persons, as evident from such observations like "the so-called rights of LGBT persons" and "miniscule fraction of the country's population" which vitiates the judgment and renders it a nullity.

Comments

TR
 - 
Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016

This is the period nearing end of the world, where BAD will over take up on GOOD. LIES and DECEPTION will over take TRUTH.

MAY ALLAH SUBHANAHU save us from the company of such People.

PONDER
 - 
Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016

Prophet Lut lived at the same time as Prophet Ibrahim. The old testament says that LUT (AS) was Prophet Ibrahim's nephew and that they traveled some distance together in Ibrahim's long journeys. Lut was sent as a messenger to one of the Ibrahim's neighboring communities. These people as QURAN tells us, practiced a perversion unknown to the world up to then Namely SODOMY. When LUT told them to give up this Perversion and brought them ALLAH's warning THEY DENIED HIM. refused his prophethood and carried on with their DESIRE. In the END people were destroyed by a DREADFUL DISASTER.
The QURAN: (26 :161 - 174)
When their brother LUT said to them \Will YOU not fear ALLAH\"?
Indeed, Im to YOU a trustworthy Messenger.
So fear ALLAH and obey me
And I do not ask for it any PAYMENT. My payment is only from the lord of the worlds.
DO YOU approach MALES among the worlds
And leave what YOUR LORD has created for YOU as MATES? But YOU (GaY) are a people TRANSGRESSING.\"
They said \"If you do not desist, O LUT, YOu wil surely be of those evicted.\"
He Said \"Indeed I'm toward your deed, of those who detest (it)
My Lord, save me and my family from (the consequence of) WHAT THEY DO\"
So We (ALLAH) saved him and his family, all,
Except an old women those who remained behind.
Then We destroyed the others.
And we rained upon them a rain (of stones) and evil was the rain of those who were WARNED.
Indeed in that is a SIGN, but MOST of them were not to be BELIEVERS>"

AK
 - 
Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016

I hope india will not fall for such dirty acts & follow the evils agenda which is injected from america.
Ya ALLAH save us from this evil act becoming legal.

AK
 - 
Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016

I hope india will not fall for such dirty acts & follow the evils agenda which is injected from america.
Ya ALLAH save us from this evil act becoming legal.

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News Network
December 16,2025

bengal.jpg

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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