Curative petition in Supreme Court against gay sex verdict not listed yet

NEW DELHI: Almost a month after the Supreme Court in its ruling on the right to privacy spoke against the 2014 order which criminalised homosexual behaviour, the top court is yet to list for hearing a curative petition which will formally set aside the judgment.

A five-judge bench of the top court is expected to hear the curative in open court because of the issues of public importance raised in the plea. But since the bench which spoke up for the rights and dignity of the gay community was a nine judge bench, the five-judge bench is expected to rule in their favour.

The curative petition has since been posted many times before an administrative judge to eliminate all procedural defects and ensure that all preliminary groundwork has been done for a full-fledged hearing. The case is again listed before an administrative judge on October 6.

The nine-judge bench was highly critical of a 2014 ruling of the top court which had overruled a Delhi HC judgement keeping adult consensual homosexual behaviour out of the ambit of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.