The SC judges who delivered the historic verdict on Section 377 and homosexuality

NEW DELHI: A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously decriminalised part of Section 377 of the IPC which criminalises consensual unnatural sex. The bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra termed criminalising unnatural sex as irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary. Headed by the CJI, the 5-judge bench comprised of Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.

Know about the judges who delivered the historic verdict:

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra: The Chief Justice of India since 28 July 2017, Justice Misra began his career as an advocate in 1977. He practiced in the Orissa High Court and the Service Tribunal. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Orissa High Court in 1996 and transferred to the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 1997. He became permanent Judge on 19 December 1997. He assumed charge of the office of Chief Justice, Patna High Court in 2009 and charge of the office of the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in 2010. He was elevated as a Judge of Supreme Court of India in 2011. He is due to retire from Supreme Court on October 2, 2018.

Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman: Justice Nariman has been practiced law for the last 35 years.   was made Senior Counsel by the Chief Justice of India. Justice Venkatachalaiah amended the rules in order to make him a Senior Counsel at the young age of 37 against the mandatory 45.  Has practiced Maritime Law in New York at Haight, Gardener, Poor and Havens for 1 year. Has over 500 Reported Supreme Court Judgments to his credit.  Expert in Comparative Constitutional Law and Civil Law.

Justice AM Khanwilkar: He was enrolled as an advocate on 10 February 1982. He was appointed as Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in 2000 and confirmed as permanent Judge in 2002. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh in 2013. Thereafter, he was appointed as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2013. He was elevated as Judge of Supreme Court in May 2016.

Justice DY Chandrachud: Before his appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court in May 2016, Justice Chandrachud was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from 2013. He served as the 
Judge of the Bombay High Court from 2000 to 2013. He was earlier the Additional Solicitor General of India. He was a visiting Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Mumbai and at Oklahoma University School of Law, USA. He has delivered lectures at the Australian National University, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He obtained LLM degree and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences (SJD) from Harvard Law School. 

Justice Indu Malhotra: Justice Malhotra got enrolled as an advocate in 1983 with Bar Council of Delhi. She was the second woman to be designated as a senior advocate by the Supreme Court in 2007 after 30 years. She was appointed as a member of the High-Level Committee constituted by the Ministry of Law and Justice in 2017 to review the working of Arbitration institutions in India. Her appointment to the SC was historic as she was the first woman lawyer to be directly elevated from the Bar. She is also the second woman judge to be in the Supreme Court currently, at present the apex court only has one woman judge Justice R.Banumathi.