Twitterati lauds Supreme Court’s decision to decriminalise homosexuality in India

In what came as a historic move and a landmark judgment, India’s Supreme Court legalised same-sex relations between consenting adults in the country. The British-era Section 377 of the Indian Penal Court (IPC), which regarded gay sex as a punishable offence, has now been made ineffectual.

A five-judge bench of the apex court, on Thursday, decriminalised homosexuality and stated that the 160-year-old banning it as discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which was unconstitutional.

“LGBT Community has same rights as of any ordinary citizen. Respect for each other’s rights, and others are supreme humanity. Criminalising carnal intercourse under section 377 Indian penal code is irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary,” said Chief Justice, Dipak Misra.

He further added that discrimination and seclusion from the social mainstream are the stark realities faced by many individuals today. the Chief Justice said that it is only when every individual is made free from such shackles that we can emerge as a free society.

“History owes an apology to members of the community for the delay in ensuring their rights,” said Indu Malhotra, who was another judge on the bench.

The judgment has led to widespread joy among the LGBT community and several other activist groups. The netizens too took to several social media to express their happiness over the Supreme Court’s decision to legalise gay sex.

“Was late coming but der aaye durust aaye. Better late than never. People should be free to be who they are. #Section377,” tweeted popular Cricket Commentator and Analyst Harsha Bhogle.

“A historic day for India! Love for all, freedom for all.  RIP #Section377,” tweeted actor Akshay Kumar.

Check out some other tweets here.