Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. V. Union of India (2018) SC 790
On September 6, 2018, a significant legal ruling was rendered by the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, which invalidated Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This statutory provision, prior to its annulment, criminalized homosexuality and characterized it as a moral transgression. Specifically, consensual sexual intercourse between individuals of the same sex was deemed unlawful under this penal statute.
The pivotal ruling definitively resolves India's longstanding controversy surrounding homosexuality and serves as a significant relief for the LGBTQ community. The Bench articulated that Section 377 of the Penal Code is unjustifiable, unreasonable, and incompatible with constitutional principles. It emphasized that constitutional freedoms should not be constrained by majority viewpoints or conventional morality.