ABSTRACT
This chapter questions the legal facilities for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) group in India. The colonial law had criminalized homosexuality. Strictures against homosexuality are enforced by laws like Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Tribes Act 1871. In 2001, Lawyers Collective challenged the Section 377 ICP on the behalf of the Naz Foundation. The court held that criminalization of consensual sex between adults in private violates the Constitution’s guarantees of dignity, equality and freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation (Articles 21, 14 and 15). However, this verdict was overturned in Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation and this effectively recriminalized the lives of LGBT Indian citizens. If India is to be an inclusive democracy in which the rights of all minorities are protected, then the nullification of Koushal is a national imperative. Early in 2016, The Supreme Court referred petitions against Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to a five-judge Constitution Bench for a possible in-depth hearing.
