Disagree with The Beatles song ‘All you need is love’, says Justice DY Chandrachud

Batting for the issue of LGBTQ+ rights, Supreme Court judge Justice DY Chandrachud referred to the famous song ‘All you need is love’ sung by the legendary English rock band The Beatles. 

Justice Chandrachud said that equality cannot be alone achieved by the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the IPC. It must also extend to all spheres of life, he said while speaking at an event organised by the British High Commission on Tuesday. 

"Equality is not just achieved by the decriminalisation of section 377 of IPC alone, it must extend to all spheres of life including the home, the workplace, the public place, that we occupy."

"While the decision in Navtej (Sec 377) was momentous, we have a long way to go. The Beatles famously sang ‘All you need is love, love; Love is all you need’. At the risk of ruffling the feathers of music aficionados everywhere, I take the liberty to disagree with them and say - perhaps we need a little more than love. Structural changes as well as attitudinal changes are essential," he was quoted as saying.

The remarks came at a reception to mark the fourth anniversary of the landmark judgement on Indian Section 377 which criminalised homosexuality. A 5-judge bench which included Justice Chandrachud passed the historic judgment which struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
"In the case, we went back and reversed our own view which said that section 377 IPC was constitutional. When we walked into the case we had to take a call about whether our own predecessors were right," he said.

Justice Chandrachud recalled how he had seen policemen with baton stopping could either of different or same genders when walking along Marine Drive in Mumbai as a young lawyer and later as a Bombay HC judge. 

“They [the couples] were just tapped with the baton on their shoulder to separate them. It was a clear symbol of what the police can do to create fear amongst the people who were doing nothing but just symbolising love," he said. 

He remembered how several of the LGBT community were crying in the court when the verdict was delivered. 

"It was a kind of healing for them of its own kind," he said. The landmark SC judgement has had major implications for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

'All you need is love' was sung by The Beatles as a non-album single in July of the year 1967. The popular song was credited to the John Lennon-Paul McCartney songwriting partnership.

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