Equality not achieved by decriminalisation of Sec 377 alone: Justice Chandrachud’s full speech
Judiciary

Equality not achieved by decriminalisation of Sec 377 alone: Justice Chandrachud’s full speech

Speaking at a British High Commission event, the judge said atypical or unconventional families must be able to enjoy all legal and societal benefits that their more traditional counterparts did.

   
File photo of Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud | Photo: Commons

File photo of Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud | Photo: Commons

New Delhi: Supreme Court Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud said Tuesday that equality was not achieved by the decriminalisation of Section 377 alone, but must also extend to all spheres of life.

“…it (equality) must extend to all spheres of life including the home, the workplace, the public place, that we occupy,” Justice Chandrachud said.

The British High Commission Tuesday hosted a reception to mark the fourth anniversary of the landmark judgment that struck down Section 377, which criminalised homosexuality. Justice Chandrachud was one of the five judges who wrote the historic judgment.

“I was lucky enough to be the part of that bench that passed the judgement. In the case, we went back and reversed our own view which said that Section 377 IPC was constitutional. When we walked into the case, we had to take a call about whether our own predecessors were right,” he said.

He also said it was not merely a black paper of law that the bench decided. “It was really for a change… But the change really resides in the heart and soul of each one of us in society,” he said.

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