Section 377: From despair to delight, a timeline of events
This is the timeline of events which dates back to the beginning of this century in 2001.
The Supreme Court just pronounced its much-awaited verdict on a clutch of petitions seeking decriminalisation of a 158-year-old colonial law under Section 377 of the IPC which criminalises consensual gay sex. In a landmark judgment, the apex court ruled that gay sex isn't a criminal offence.
The verdict will be delivered by the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra comprising of Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra . The bench heard various stakeholders for four days in July, including gay rights activists.
This is the timeline of events which dates back to the beginning of this century in 2001.
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WHEN |
WHAT |
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2001 |
An NGO fighting for gay rights, Naz Foundation, files PIL in Delhi High Court seeking legalisation of gay sex among consenting adults. |
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September 2, 2004 |
High Court (HC) dismisses the PIL seeking decriminalisation of gay sex. |
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September 2004 |
Gay right activists file review petition. |
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November 3, 2004 |
HC dismisses the review plea. |
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December 2004 |
Gay rights activists approach the apex court against the order of the HC |
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April 3, 2006 |
Supreme Court (SC) directs the HC to reconsider the matter on merit and remands the case back to HC |
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October 4, 2006 |
HC allows senior BJP leader BP Singhal's plea, opposing decriminalising gay sex, to be impleaded in the case. |
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September 18, 2008 |
HC refuses the plea and final argument in the case begins. |
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September 25, 2008 |
Gay rights activists contend that the govt. cannot infringe upon their fundamental right to equality by decriminalising homosexual acts on the ground of morality. |
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September 26, 2008 |
HC pulls up the Centre for speaking in two voices on the homosexuality law in view of contradictory affidavits filed by Health and Home ministries. |
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September 26, 2008 |
Centre says gay sex is immoral and a reflection of a perverse mind and its decriminalisation would lead to moral degradation of society. |
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October 15, 2008 |
HC pulls up the Centre for relying on religious texts to justify ban on gay sex and asks it to come up with scientific reports to justify it. |
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November 2008 |
Govt. in its written submission before the HC says judiciary should refrain from interfering in the issue as it is basically for Parliament to decide. |
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November 7, 2008 |
HC reserves its verdict on petitions filed by gay rights activists seeking decriminalisation of homosexual acts. |
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July 2, 2009 |
HC allows plea of gay rights activists and legalises gay sex among consenting adults. |
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July 9, 2009 |
Delhi astrologer challenges HC verdict in SC |
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February 15, 2012 |
SC begins final day-to-day hearing in the case. |
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March 27, 2012 |
SC reserves verdict. |
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December 11, 2013 |
SC sets aside the 2009 Delhi HC order which had decriminalised gay sex. |
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December 20, 2013 |
Govt. petitions SC to drop gay sex ban |
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January 28, 2014 |
SC dismisses a Central govt. petition seeking a review of its verdict that had declared gay sex an offence. |
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June 30, 2016 |
A two-judge bench of the SC refers a petition filed by five well-known members of the LGBT community seeking to legalise gay sex to the Chief Justice of India for “appropriate orders”, saying a similar matter was already pending before a constitution bench. |
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August 24, 2017 |
SC passes landmark ruling declaring individual privacy a guaranteed fundamental right. “Sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy,” the court said, virtually reopening the 2013 judgment on gay rights. |
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January 8, 2018 |
SC refers Section 377 to a larger bench of the court, saying its 2013 requires reconsideration. |
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July 10, 2018 |
A newly re-constituted five-judge SC constitution bench commences hearing petitions on repealing Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which criminalises "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and thereby sexual relationship between persons of same sex. |
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July 11, 2018 |
The Central govt. tells the SC that it would leave it to judges’ wisdom to decide the constitutionality of the controversial Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that criminalises homosexuality. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, however, also says in an affidavit of the Centre that the right to choose a partner should not extend to incest. |
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July 12, 2018 |
The SC says the social stigma & discrimination attached to the LGBTQ community would go if criminality of consensual gay sex is done away with. The SC bench maintains that it would scrutinise the legal validity of section 377 of the IPC in all its aspects. |
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July 17, 2018 |
The SC reserveS its verdict on a clutch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which criminalises consensual gay sex.
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September 6, 2018 |
The Supreme Court decriminalises Section 377 in an unamious verdict
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