Consensual sex among adults in privacy does not harm public decency, morality: SC

Consensual intercourse among adult homosexuals or heterosexuals in private space does not harm public decency or morality, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

In a landmark verdict, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar, who wrote the main 166-page judgement, held that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code had become an "odious weapon" to harass the LGBT community which was made "societal pariah" by subjecting them to discrimination and unequal treatment.

The CJI held that Section 377
"Individual has sovereignty over his or her body and can surrender autonomy wilfully to another individual and their intimacy in privacy is a matter of their choice and
It also said that "consensual carnal intercourse among adults, be it homosexual or heterosexual, in private space, does not in any way harm the public decency or morality. Therefore, Section 377 IPC in its present form violates Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution."
The top court said the section, so far as it criminalises even consensual sexual acts between competent adults, fails to make a distinction between non-consensual and consensual sexual acts of competent adults in private space, "which are neither harmful nor contagious to the society."
The court held that an examination of Section 377 IPC in relation to Article 19(1)(a) reveals that it amounts to an unreasonable restriction, as "public decency and morality cannot be amplified beyond a rational or logical limit and cannot be accepted as reasonable grounds for curbing the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and choice of the LGBT community."