'A landmark day': Priyanka Chopra celebrates 2 years of decriminalisation of Section 377

It’s been two years since the Supreme Court passed a historic judgment of decriminalizing homosexuality and abolishing Section 377 for the individuals belonging to the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer) community. Global Icon Priyanka Chopra celebrated two years of the landmark judgment by sharing a beautiful picture from one of the LGBT rallies. While captioning the post, the actress wrote that September 6, 2018, was a landmark day for every Indian citizen.

Priyanka Chopra celebrates 2 years of abolishing Section 377

Further, the Aitraaz actress wrote that the decision was also an aspiring victory of the LGBTQA community. At last, she concluded the post with “#Section377verdict and #LoveIsLove.” The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment on this day two years back unanimously struck down part of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which criminalized gay sex, saying that it violated the constitutional right to equality and dignity. In 2018, the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Mishra read out the judgment and said that Section 377 is irrational and arbitrary. The sexual orientation of an individual is natural and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a violation of freedom of expression. 

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Under the 1861 law, gay sex was punishable by up to 10 years in jail. According to reports, five high-profile petitioners - Bharatnatyam dancer Navtej Singh Johar, journalist Sunil Mehra, restaurateur Ritu Dalmia, Neemrana hotel chain co-founder Aman Nath and businesswoman Ayesha Kapur - argued that Section 377 violates the rights enshrined in the Constitution. According to reports, in 2001, a New Delhi based NGO called Naz Foundation that works in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention had challenged the section in the Delhi high court which passed out the judgment in favour and said that the law does not apply to consent adults. Later, a group of people challenged the order in the apex court.

Followed by this, the supreme court bench, headed by justice GS Singhvi, reversed the order in 2013 and declared homosexuality a criminal offense again. Also, they levied the decision-making rights upon the parliament and asked them to take a call on scrapping the law. Since then, several petitions had been filed challenging the order, and protests against section 377 gathered momentum on the streets with people filling petitions against the obsolete law.

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