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Naz Foundation withdraws curative petition

against 2013 SC verdict

Supreme Court: The Bench of Ranjan Gogoi, CJ and Sanjiv

Khanna, J allowed the NGO Naz Foundation to withdraw its
curative plea challenging the 2013 Supreme Court verdict that
had again criminalised gay sex between two consenting
adults. The Foundation had told the Court that the curative
plea has now become infructuous in view of the five-judge
constitution bench verdict in 2018 which had set aside the
2013 judgement.
After the 2013 verdict, the Supreme Court had dismissed the
review plea that had laid the foundation to file the curative
petition. However, a five-judge constitution bench headed by
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3/6/2020 Naz Foundation Archives | SCC Blog

then Chief Justice Dipak Misra entertained fresh petitions

seeking decriminalising of the consensual gay sex. It had on
September 6 last year unanimously struck down part of the
British-era law and held that Section 377 of the Indian Penal
Code that criminalised consensual gay sex was “irrational,
indefensible and manifestly arbitrary”. The bench said:

“One defines oneself. That is the glorious

form of individuality.”
Drawing an analogy, the Court had held that if consensual
carnal intercourse between a heterosexual couple does not
amount to rape, it definitely should not be designated as an
unnatural offence under Section 377 IPC. The
expression against the order of nature has nowhere been
defined. The non-consensual acts which have been
criminalised by the section, have already been designated as
penal offences under Section 375 and POCSO Act. If the
section remains on the statute book in its present form, it will
allow harassment and exploitation of LGBT community to
prevail.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Published on February 11, 2019 – By Prachi Bhardwaj

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