Heena Sharma Blog

A gay couple has moved the Kerala High Court, seeking to strike down certain provisions under the Special Marriage Act , 1954, which do not permit to get their marriage registered. Considering the writ petition by the petitioners on Monday, the court has sought the views of Central and state governments on the matter. The petitioners, a business man and an IT professional had met each other in May 2018 and fallen in love. After being in a relationship for two months, they decided to get hitched. In September last year, they got married in a private ceremony. However, the religious authorities declined to solemnise the wedding and hence the couple decided to get their marriage registered under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which does not recognise homosexual marriages. Read More

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat Thursday suggested that the Supreme Court verdict on decriminalisation of gay sex may not be implemented in the Army. Gen Rawat, during his annual press conference, said such actions are forbidden in the Army. At the same time, he added that the Army is not above the law. "We will not allow this to happen in the Army," he said. In what was hailed as a historic move, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court last September unanimously decriminalised part of the 158-year-old colonial law under Section 377 of the IPC which criminalises consensual unnatural sex, saying it violated the rights to equality. When asked about the court ruling on adultery, he said the Army is conservative. "We can't allow it to perpetrate into the Army," the Army chief said. Read More Business Standard

A colonial-era law that criminalizes homosexual sex is viewed by many as a blot on the idea of India as a liberal democracy Current Affairs News : Five judges on India’s Supreme Court are hearing a challenge to a law that criminalizes homosexual sex — Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, introduced by British colonial authorities in 1861 and kept on the books in independent India. The Indian government told the court, which began hearings last Tuesday, that it would leave it to the wisdom of the judges to decide whether Section 377 violates fundamental rights to life, liberty and personal security as long as it does not get into broader issues like marriage, inheritance and adoption. But these are inevitable. Menaka Guruswamy, a lawyer for the plaintiffs against Section 377, argued that it was love that needed to be “constitutionally recognized” and not just sex. Social media and newspapers are filled with conversations and reports about Section 377, but L.G.B.T. life i...