NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today said the social stigma and discrimination attached to the LGBTQ community would go if criminality of consensual gay sex is done away with, while maintaining that it would scrutinise the legal validity of section 377 of the IPC in all its aspects.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, hearing a clutch of petitions challeging the constitutional validity of the 158-year-old penal law, also rejected a proposal of lawyers, seeking retention of section 377, that public opinion should be elicited on the matter, saying it did not want a referendum but would go by constitutional morality.
The bench took note of the vehement opposition of these lawyers and their allegation that Centre has taken a “U-turn” in the case.
“On the mere concession of the Centre, we will not say that the section is ultra-vires. We will have to analyse every aspect. We will do a detailed analysis of Section 377 and its constitutional validity,” the bench, which also comprised Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, said. (AGENCIES)
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