“Section 377 was a weapon to harass members of LGBT community”: Top quotes by Dipak Misra's judgment that defines it in spirit and letter
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Deepak Mishra has stricken down the ban on homosexuality on Thursday by scrapping Section 377. The bench delivered the judgment on a host of petitions filed by five celebrity petitioners demanding to scrap the act.
While delivering the judgment, the CJI called criminalizing homosexuality irrational and untenable. Urging the government to sensitize the issue, Justice DY Chandrachud said “The Government must give wide publicity and government officers should be sensitised on LGBTs”. And Justice Indu Malhotra said “History owes apology to the LGBT community for their sufferings."
Here the top five quotes from the judgment that define it spirit and letter
• "Section 377 was a weapon to harass members of LGBT community, resulting in discrimination."
• Section 377 is arbitrary. LGBT community posses rights like others. Majoritarian views and popular morality cannot dictate constitutional rights."
• "No one can escape from their individualism. Society is now better for individualism. In the present case, our deliberations will be on various spectrums"
• "Autonomy of an individual is important. He or she can not surrender it to anyone"
• "Homosexuality is not a mental disorder"
