After the Supreme Court verdict criminalising homosexuality, there is anger. And there is love. And it is this love that is going to make sure that the battle against discrimination continues. We are not going gentle into the good night
I am neither a legal scholar, nor a historian. There are people far more involved, immersed and informed than I am about the technicalities of the historic judgment that the Supreme Court of India passed on December 11, 2013, revoking the progressive Delhi High Court verdict that held Section 377 of the Indian Penal Court in violation of the rights to freedom, dignity and life enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
While the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Delhi High Court decision marks a dark day in the history of the Indian judiciary, there is no doubt that this is not the end of a fight to protect those on the fringes, those discriminated against systemically, those who are harassed and robbed of their right to live and love. The apex court’s decision might seem like a major setback, but the support and love, the rage and solidarity that it has drawn from expected and unexpected corners is overwhelming.
Technically, this judgment might be in the clear: The Supreme Court’s mandate was to see whether Section 377, the unnatural sexual acts code which criminalises all form of sexual behaviour except for consenting intercourse between adult biological man and biological woman, contradicts articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Indian Constitution. The bench has concluded, in complicated and inaccessible legalese, that it does not find Section 377 to be in contradiction to the rights ensured for Indian citizens and hence has passed the buck to the Parliament to legislate new laws in order to regulate human sexuality and its expression in the country.
(This story appears in the 10 January, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)