In a significant victory for gay rights, the Delhi High Court (HC) has declared as "unconstitutional and arbitrary" the 149-year-old law that criminalises consensual homosexual acts among adults.
Going beyond decriminalising homosexuality, the Delhi HC has widened the ambit of Article 15 of the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex, religion and caste. It has expanded the term sex to include sexual orientation. This means a person cannot be discriminated against on grounds of sexual preference.
However, the court said, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) will continue for non-consensual and non-vaginal sex involving minors.
"The court's decision marks respect for human rights — irrespective of one's sexuality and sexual orientation," said Anjali Gopalan of Naz Foundation, the NGO that filed the 2001 PIL, on which the court sounded its ruling.
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