NEW DELHI: Thanks to the right to privacy being deemed a fundamental right, the Supreme Court (SC) today agreed to reconsider its 2013 decision which criminalised gay sexual relations and said it will review Section 377 of Indian Penal Code that makes such relations a crime.
The SC today also issued a notice to the Centre seeking its response to a writ petition filed by five members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community, who said they live in fear of police because of their natural sexual orientation and preferences.

The apex court also referred to a Constitution bench the petition seeking to decriminalise consensual sex between LGBTQ adults.

In December 2013, the SC set aside the Delhi High Court's 2009 verdict decriminalising homosexuality.A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said the SC' s December 2013 judgment upholding the validity of Section 377 - which says sexual intercourse between consenting adults of the same gender is a crime - appears to hurt the sexual preferences of individuals.

The three-judge bench took into account views expressed in another judgment in August, which gave the right to privacy the status of a fundamental right. That judgment was also in favour of respecting the freedom of individuals to their sexual orientation.

After the SC's privacy judgment in August, activists and lawyers working for LGBTQ community made a strong case for the rights of sexual minorities. At the time, activist Gautam Bhan said SC's reading of the right to privacy as an aspect of dignity and equality, particularly in the case of LGBTQ rights, was welcome. Read more via Times of India