TNN file photo by Anindya Chattopadhyay

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Centre's plea to postpone Tuesday's hearing on petitions seeking protection of the LGBTQ community's sexual preferences and decriminalisation of a nearly 160-year-old provision, Section 377 of IPC, which makes gay sex an offence.

On Tuesday, a Constitution bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra will take up for hearing petitions filed two years ago by dancer Navtej S Johar, journalist Sunil Mehra, chef Ritu Dalmia, hotelier Aman Nath and business executive Ayesha Kapur. Many others had joined the pending petition of Naz Foundation, which had sought correction of the SC 2013 ruling which refused to decriminalise Section 377.

Advocate R Balasubramanian requested the bench headed by CJI Misra that the Centre wanted to file a comprehensive affidavit responding to the petitions while taking into account views expressed by the nine-judge Constitution bench while dealing with right to privacy.

Two judges on the nine-judge bench, Justices Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, had come out strongly in favour of protecting the sexual orientation of the LGBTQ community saying it was part of their right to privacy, which in turn was part of right to life.

Read also: Indians differ on homosexuality being a crime

Decriminalising sex between consenting adults will help protect the LGBTQ community from social harassment and police action. The issue has proved a hot potato for political parties that have been wary of conservative opinion and taking on the deep social taboos associated with same sex relationships.

The CJI-led bench said the Centre was issued notice on the petition a long time ago and the government should have been ready with its response. "We will go ahead with the hearing. If you (Centre) want to file anything, file it during the hearing," the bench said.

The hearing gives hope to the community as the bench includes Justice Chandrachud, who as part of the nine-judge bench deciding the fundamental nature of right to privacy had on January 8 said that LGBTQ community members' sexual orientation had an inseparable relationship with their fundamental right to privacy and accepted that the SC had erred in denying them that right.

