Is Section 377 IPC constitutional: SC to decide today

New Delhi, Sep 5: The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on the legality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code on Thursday. The court would decide whether the section that criminalised sexual relations between same gender adults would be valid or not.

During the course of the marathon hearing the SC dropped several hints to suggest that it would de-criminalise Section 377.

The verdict would be delivered by a five judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra who retires on October 3. The lone lady judge on the Bench, Justice Indu Malhotra had said that homosexuality is only a variation and not an aberration.

Justice Malhotra went on to add that the prejudice and stigma piled on the LGBTQ community has denied even basic medical care in the country. The pressure on homosexual people from within the home is such that they succumb to marry the opposite sex, leading to a life of mental trauma and bi-sexuality.

Homosexuality is not against the order of nature, but nature itself. Hundreds of animal species show the same sexual orientation, she also went on to add.

The Bench said once the criminality of consensual gay sex goes away, then related issues like social stigma and discrimination against the LGBTQ community will also go.