LGBT community hails SC judgement on Right To Privacy

"I am truly overwhelmed by the Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy, and the parts of the judgement which specifically mention that sexual orientation should be a guaranteed right under the constitution," said filmmaker and gay activist Sridhar Rangayan.

"This is a big day for the LGBTQ community in India who have been fighting for their rights for over two decades. This verdict vindicates our appeal for equal rights as citizens of India. I feel truly happy and free! "said the festival director of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival.

In a landmark judgement the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that privacy is a constitutional right of every Indian citizen, delivering a judgement that is apparently a jolt to the government which argued that the individual privacy is not an inalienable fundamental right under Constitution.

The top court ruled that Right to Privacy comes under the Right to Life and Liberty, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said "the government welcomes privacy ruling passed by the Supreme Court" and the government has accepted the principles of the judgement."

But to a question of journalists on the implication of the judgement regarding the LGBT community, Prasad said he would comment on that later.

In a major setback to LGBT movement for rights, the Supreme Court in 2013 had held that homosexuality or unnatural sex between two consenting adults under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code would continue to be an offence setting aside the Delhi High Court’s verdict of 2009 decriminalising homosexuality .

Section 377 holds that whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal commits an unnatural offence.