Naz Foundation: Supreme Court to pronounce verdict on constitutionality of S. 377 tomorrow

The Supreme Court will deliver its verdict in the case of Suresh Kumar Koushal & Ors. v. Naz Foundation & Ors.(SLP (c) 15436/2009) tomorrow. The verdict, which will decide the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and consequently the legality of homosexuality, will bring to an end the 12-year legal battle which started in the Delhi High Court in 2001..Section 377 of the IPC which criminalises “unnatural offences” had been declared as unconstitutional by the Delhi High Court in 2009 insofar as it criminalised consensual sexual acts of adults in private. The same had been challenged before the Supreme Court on myriad issues..The judgment will be pronounced in the Chief Justice’s court by Justice GS Singhvi and is likely to have significant implications on the shaping of criminal jurisprudence of the country. The matter was heard by a Division Bench comprising of Justice Singhvi and Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya. Incidentally, tomorrow will be J. Singhvi’s last day in the office..Timeline of the case:.2001: NGO, Naz Foundation files a petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the IPC..2003: The Government of India files an affidavit in the HC defending Section 377 on the ground that the Indian society disapproves of homosexuality..September 2, 2004: A Division Bench of the HC comprising of Chief Justice BC Patel and Justice BD Ahmed dismisses the petition on the ground that “there is no cause of action in favour of the petitioner and that such a petition cannot be entertained to examine the academic challenge to the constitutionality of the legislation.”.2006: Decision of the HC challenged in the Supreme Court by the petitioner..February 2, 2006: A Division Bench comprising of Justices YK Sabharwal and PP Naolekar of the Supreme Court directs that “the matter requires consideration and is not of a nature which could have been dismissed on the ground was done by the High Court”; the order of dismissal by the HC set aside and the matter remanded back to the HC..July 2, 2009: A Division Bench of the HC comprising of the then Chief Justice AP Shah and Justice S Muralidhar declare Section 377 as unconstitutional. It holds the following:.“We declare that Section 377 IPC, insofar it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution. The provisions of Section 377 IPC will continue to govern non-consensual penile non-vaginal sex and penile non-vaginal sex involving minors. By ‘adult’ we mean everyone who is 18 years of age and above. A person below 18 would be presumed not to be able to consent to a sexual act.”.July 7, 2009: Suresh Kumar Koushal files a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging the HC verdict..2009 – 2011: Fifteen other SLPs filed challenging the judgment of the HC as well as Intervention petitions filed by those supporting the HC verdict, are placed before the Supreme Court.February 13, 2012 – March 27, 2012: Final hearing before the Division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya.March 27, 2012: Matter reserved for judgment by the Supreme Court..Given below is a list of some of the counsels involved in the case:.For the Petitioners.For the Respondents