Section 377: Supreme Court likely to reconsider its 2013 verdict, larger bench to decide

New Delhi : Supreme Court on Monday agreed to reconsider its 2013 verdict on Section 377 that criminalises gay marriages in India. The case has been referred to a larger bench observing societal morality "changes from age to age."

The apex court also said that a "section of people or individuals who exercise their choice should never remain in a state of fear".

The decision by Supreme Court gave a ray of hope to the gays, lesbians and transgender in the society who had been raising their voices to scrap the law in India from a long time.

So far, there are 26 nations - Australia, Malta, Germany, Finland, Colombia, Ireland, United States, Greenland, Scotland, Luxembourg, England and Wales, Brazil, France, New Zealand, Uruguay, Denmark, Argentina, Portugal, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands – which have decriminalised gay sex.

In 2013, the Supreme Court had ruled, "minuscule fraction of the country’s population constitutes LGBT is not a sustainable basis to deny the right to privacy. The purpose of elevating certain rights to the stature of guaranteed fundamental rights is to insulate their exercise from the disdain of majorities, whether legislative or popular…".

It had overturned the Delhi High Court verdict decriminalising gay sex among consenting adults.