Keshav Suri, executive director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, writes about why he moved the Supreme Court to abolish Section 377.

Hotelier Keshav Suri, executive director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, recently filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and the decriminsalisation of homosexuality.

On April 23, a bench headed by chief justice Dipak Misra issued a notice to the Centre on the plea – filed in court by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi – and then ordered that it be bunched with other similar petitions already referred to a Constitution bench.

Here, Suri talks about his petition:

My recently filed petition in the honourable Supreme Court has been given some attention. Today, I aim to clarify doubts and put rumours to rest.

In my writ petition against the Union of India, I have challenged Section 377. The criminalisation of consensual sexual relationships between adults goes against the Constitution of this country. I believe the right to choice of sexual orientation encompasses the right to a life with dignity and the right to privacy. Since, these are fundamental rights according to Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, the discrimination based on sexual preference is a violation of the Constitution itself.

We need to grow and mature as a society. I am a proud member of the LGBTQI community in India. I have no qualms in admitting that I have been in a committed relationship with an adult male for a decade. Read more via Daily O