Supreme Court repeals Section 377: Bollywood celebrities hail judgement

Image Courtesy: Twitter

New Delhi: A historic judgement was passed by the Supreme Court on Thursday under which Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code has been struck down. The judgement was delivered by the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra along with Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra. Section 377 refers to 'unnatural offences' and says whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to pay a fine.

Several Bollywood celebs including Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar and Arjun Kapoor have reacted to this historic judgement.

Check them out here:

Stand tall in honor with pride #LGBTQ pic.twitter.com/lEnvcKJzwp — John Abraham (@TheJohnAbraham) September 6, 2018

Take Me As I Am..
said the Chief Justice of India & my eyes welled up & spilled over.
#Section377 Over & Out. #India is for ALL. #Love is for ALL. #Celebration for ALL. — SONA (@sonamohapatra) September 6, 2018

So happy today, thank goodness for the rainbow (and all the lawyers that helped put it there!)  — Kalki केकला (@kalkikanmani) September 6, 2018

RIP #Section377
The new sunshine of this day is that of a progressive India. Love all! — Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) September 6, 2018

Bye bye 377. Thank you #SupremeCourt #abouttime #nomorediscrimination #loveislove @MardOfficial — Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) September 6, 2018

Crying tears of joy for the lgbtqi community. One day there won’t be any labels and we will all live in utopia. pic.twitter.com/veQe1S92FD — Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) September 6, 2018

This is the india I want to live in. Not one filled with hate, bigotry,sexism homophobia and intolerance. THIS is the India I love. — Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) September 6, 2018

— Abhishek Bachchan (@juniorbachchan) September 6, 2018

Historical judgment!!!! So proud today! Decriminalising homosexuality and abolishing #Section377 is a huge thumbs up for humanity and equal rights! The country gets its oxygen back! pic.twitter.com/ZOXwKmKDp5

— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) September 6, 2018

More power ... — Neha Dhupia (@NehaDhupia) September 6, 2018

Sanity prevails for once we can believe we have some sensible decision makers and lawmaker s available to this generation. #Section377 gone with the wind. — Arjun Kapoor (@arjunk26) September 6, 2018

India is a country where the culture changes every 100km. Accepting diversity has to be the core value of every Indian and frankly is the only way India will survive and thrive. Scrapping #Section377 is a step in that direction. It is a good day for India. — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) September 6, 2018

A law implemented in 1860 is now abolished. A day for our entire nation to live with pride. Bye bye #sec377 #lovealllovefree #historic

— Varun MAUJI Dhawan (@Varun_dvn) September 6, 2018

The issue of section 377 was first raised by an NGO, Naaz Foundation, which had in 2001 approached the Delhi High Court that had decriminalised sex between consenting adults of the same gender by holding the penal provision "illegal".

Although the Delhi High Court had struck down the provision in 2009, it was revived by the Supreme Court in 2013 in a widely criticised judgment by a Division Bench of Justice G S Singhvi and Justice S J Mukhopadhyaya. However, the issue resurrected in July 2016, when a fresh petition was filed.