20 IITians file fresh petitions against Sec 377
NEW DELHI: Current and past students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) who identify as gay, bisexual and transgender have filed writ petitions challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that criminalises any form of sexual intercourse that is non-penile vaginal, irrespective of whether it is consensual or not.
A petition by 20 IITians from Mumbai, Delhi, Guwahati, Roorkee and Kharagpur among other branches, has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the section on grounds that it violates Articles 14, 15, 16, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. These articles pertain to fundamental rights of equality, freedom of expression and personal liberty.
The petitioners belong to a pan-IIT support group Pravritti, which was formed in 2012 as a closed group on Facebook. The group now has over 350 members, who hail from diverse class, gender and regional backgrounds, and age groups. “Several of the petitioners have experienced fears of abandonment, stigmatisation, exclusion, guilt and shame throughout their childhood years on account of the reaction to their sexuality,” the petition states.
The petitioners include 56-year-old Sridhar Rangayan, the co-director of the annual Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film festival, and 21-yearold Urvi (who prefers to use this name, instead of her birth name that is used in the petition) who hails from Anantapur and identifies as a transwoman. Urvi is a first-generation learner in her family of farmers and is the recipient of prestigious research fellowships.
Some of the petitioners are employed in multinational corporations and top Indian business ventures, while some are still pursuing their studies.
Rangayan, who was a student at the Industrial Design Centre at Indian Institute of TechnologyBombay from 1984 to 1986, said, “One faced a lot of anxiety and fear about one’s sexuality, and I wish there was a support group for me then. A more inclusive campus is so essential — Section 377 not only affects a student’s studies, but also their future prospects,” he said.
“The IITs are not just institutions of national importance, but attract a diversity of bright young students from across the country, from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Sambalpur in Odisha, to metropolitan cities. It is a slice of India itself and within it you have this spectrum of students who are from gender and sexual minorities,” said lawyer Menaka Guruswamy, who is representing these petitioners.
Since 2016, 26 LGBT petitioners have filed writs challenging Section 377 at the SC.
This signals a growing confidence in the community to come out in the public eye and claim their sexual orientation and gender identity. In April, three separate petitions were filed by Ashok Row Kavi, chairperson of the NGO Humsafar Trust with other members, by Lucknow-based social worker Arif Jafar, and by hotelier Keshav Suri. In 2016, two separate petitions were filed by three members of the transgender community, including activist Akkai Padmashali, and by five members of LGBT community, including Sahitya Akademi award winner Navtej Singh Johar. In January, a Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was set up to hear eight crucial matters, including the Johar petition. All other writ petitions filed till last month have been tagged to this case. It remains to be seen what the court will do with the new petition, which could be tagged with the existing petitions before the bench.
In 2014, 1,157 students, faculty members and staff from IITs across the country wrote an open letter to the government and the directors of the IITs, protesting against the apex court’s judgment. The latest petition draws attention to the impact of the law on some of the brightest young minds in the country today.