New Delhi, Jan 8 (PTI) Following is the chronology ofNew Delhi, Jan 8 (PTI) Following is the chronology ofevents in which the Supreme Court today referred to a largerbench a plea challenging its 2013 decision criminalisingunnatural sexual relations between two consenting adults:2001: Naz Foundation, an NGO fighting for gay rights,files PIL in Delhi High Court seeking legalisation of gay sexamong consenting adults.
Sep 2004: The HC dismisses the PIL seeking de-criminalisation of gay sex; Gay right activists file reviewpetition.
Nov 3: HC dismisses the review plea.
Dec: Gay rights activists approach SC against HC order.
Apr 3, 2006: SC remands the case back to HC, directs itto reconsider the matter on merit.
Oct 4: HC allows senior BJP leader B P Singhal's plea,opposing decriminalising gay sex, to be impleaded in the case.
Sep 18, 2008: Centre seeks more time to take stand on theissue after contradictory stand between Home and HealthMinistries over decriminalisation of homosexuality. HC refusesthe plea and final argument in the case begins.
Sep 25: Gay rights activists contend that the governmentcannot infringe upon their fundamental right to equality bydecriminalising homosexual acts on the ground of morality.
Sep 26: HC pulls up Centre for speaking in two voices onhomosexuality law in view of contradictory affidavits filed byHealth and Home Ministries.
Sep 26: Centre says gay sex is immoral and a reflectionof a perverse mind and its decriminalisation would lead tomoral degradation of society.
Oct 15: HC pulls up Centre for relying on religious textsto justify ban on gay sex and asks it to come up withscientific reports to justify it.
Nov: Govt in its written submission before HC saysjudiciary should refrain from interfering in the issue as itis basically for Parliament to decide.
Nov 7, 2008: HC reserves verdict on pleas filed by gayrights activists seeking decriminalisation of homosexual acts.
Jul 2, 2009: HC allows plea of gay rights activists andlegalises sexual activity among consenting adults of same sex.
Jul 9: Delhi astrologer challenges HC verdict in SC.
Later, several others including BJP leader Singhal (sincedead), religious organisations, rights activists and yoga guruRamdev's disciple also oppose the judgement.
Feb 15, 2012: SC begins final day-to-day hearing in thecase.
Mar 27, 2012: SC reserves verdict.
Dec 11, 2013: SC sets aside the 2009 Delhi HC order whichhad decriminalised gay sex.
Dec 20: Centre files review petition in SC seekingre-examination of its verdict.
Dec 24: Gay rights activists file review petition in SCseeking re-examination of its verdict.
Jan 28, 2014: SC refuses to review its verdict oncriminalising gay sex, dismisses pleas of Centre, activists.
Apr 3: SC agrees to consider for an open court hearing oncurative petitions filed by gay rights activists against itsverdict criminalising homosexuality.
Feb 2, 2016: SC refers curative pleas on homosexuality tofive-judge bench.
June 29, 2016: SC refers the plea of celebrities likedancer N S Johar, chef Ritu Dalmia and hotelier Aman Nath, forquashing of section 377 of the IPC, to a bench already seizedof the matter.
Aug 24, 2017: SC declares right to privacy a fundamentalright under the Constitution, also observes that "sexualorientation is an essential attribute of privacy".
Jan 8, 2018: SC agrees to reconsider its 2013 decisionand refers to a larger bench the plea challenging 377 of theIPC, saying that the societal morality "changes from age toage". PTI PKS UK RKS UKANB.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.