On Tuesday, Bollywood director Karan Johar welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to re-think Section 377. He wrote on Twitter: “Yes there is hope...and I hope the hope is validated with the just and correct verdict....#Article377 ......”
Earlier, the 43-year-old director, who previously spoke up about the challenges he faced in his childhood for being effeminate, has recently claimed that Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan will be happy to play homosexuals on the screen, reports the Express Tribune.
During the trailer launch of Manoj Bajpai’s Aligarh, in which he plays a homosexual, Karan was asked if Bollywood’s three Khans would have the same level of comfort to portray homosexual characters in a film. Replying to it, Karan said that it mainly depends on the script, if it is good and poignant, they wouldn’t mind playing such roles.
In a much-needed reprieve to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community, the apex court referred the matter to a five-judge bench for further hearing on a curative petition challenging its earlier order.An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur had earlier agreed to hear the curative petition against its December 2013 order, upholding validity of Section 377 and a January 2014 order by which it had dismissed a bunch of review petitions.
The petitioners include the NGO Naz Foundation, working for the LGBT community.
The plea stated that the judgement was reserved on March 27, 2012, but a verdict was delivered after around 21 months; during this period lots of changes took place, including amendment in laws, which were not considered by the Bench, which delivered the judgement.
Section 377 of IPC criminalises sexual activities against the order of nature, arguably including the homosexual acts
