Modi Govt to Support Sec 377 in SC, Indicates A-G KK Venugopal
The case challenging the constitutionality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code commenced on Tuesday, 10 July, before a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court.
“The constitutional rights, in fact the basic human rights, of a section of society are involved,” argued senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing one group of petitioners against Section 377. “Popular morality cannot prevail over constitutional morality just because this section may be a minority.”
Section 377 of the IPC criminalises all sexual acts which are “against the order of nature”, regardless of consent – which means that even consensual same-sex acts are a criminal offence. In 2013, the Supreme Court had upheld the validity of this provision in the infamous Koushal judgment, a decision which centred around the fact that the people affected by Section 377 constitute a “minuscule minority” of the population.
