SC verdict is 'call for action' to Commonwealth nations bound to colonial laws: CHRI

The SC judgment allowing consensual gay sex is a "landmark verdict" and a "call to action" for all countries in the Commonwealth which use the "regressive" colonial law, NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative said Friday.

In a statement, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) hailed the judgment, noting that it had immense transnational relevance across Commonwealth states, where not less than 36 of 53 members continue to criminalise same-sex acts.

"CHRI believes that it is imperative for the Commonwealth to set a new trend for law based on the Section 377 verdict, and calls on the UK as the current chair of the Commonwealth and Patricia Scotland, the Commonwealth secretary general, to take a lead on this matter," said Sanjoy Hazarika, CHRI's International Director, in a statement.

He noted that at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May's opening address had emphasised that discriminatory laws criminalising same-sex relations "continue to affect the lives of many people" and which "were often put in place by the UK during its colonial rule".

"The Commonwealth must spread awareness and design the architecture of societies where prejudice and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation does not take place," said Hazarika.

Same sex relationships are banned, among other countries, in Pakistan, Singapore, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Papua New Guinea and Jamaica.

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court unanimously struck down a part of the 158-year-old law under Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalised consensual unnatural sex.

The LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer) community welcomed the verdict that also said the society cannot dictate a sexual relationship between consenting adults.

Many cut cakes and waved the rainbow flag -- which has come to be associated with the gay pride movement and is often used during marches held by the community to reflect its diversity.