Supreme Court reserves verdict on Section 377
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict in the case on decriminalising Section 377 of the Indian Penal code (IPC). This was after counsels from parties concluded their arguments.
The five-member Constitutional bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, heard the arguments through the last week.
In the course of the hearings, the Centre told the apex court that it will not take a stand on the criminalisation of same-sex relationship. It told the court that it will "leave it to the wisdom of the court" to decide upon the matter.
On Tuesday, submitting his arguments, senior advocate K Radhakrishnan said prevalence of HIV will increase in the country if Section 377 IPC is struck down by the court. He added that such a move will also make India lose its nobility, character and virtuousness.
To this, the bench, which also comprises of Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, said are sexually-transmitted diseases not prevalent among heterosexual couples?
Suresh Kumar Koushal's lawyer argued that a law should not be struck down just because it affects a handful of people. In 2013, Koushal had successfully challenged the Delhi High Court's historic verdict of 2009 wherein the court had read down Section 377 IPC to the effect that it decriminalised Section 377.
The order was overruled by a two-member bench of the Supreme Court in 2013.
Earlier in the day, Justice Nariman observed that the court cannot leave a matter to the legislature if it violates the fundamental rights gifted by the Constitution to every citizen of the country.
The five-member bench also observed that the top court will not wait for a government to enact, amend or not enact a law on any issue that violates individuals' fundamental rights.
courtesy : indiatoday.in
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Section of TN hotels declare holiday citing shortage of LPG cylinders
Chennai, Mar 11 (PTI): A section of hotels and restaurants operating in Chennai and parts of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday declared a holiday following the lack of commercial LPG supply to the establishments, employees said.
Early morning customers who had come for tea and coffee expressed disappointment over the closure of the hotels and expressed hope that the Centre would take up measures to ease the situation.
"Due to lack of LPG supply, March 11, 2026 has been declared a holiday," a notice displayed in a popular hotel in the city said on Wednesday.
"If this is the case for commercial LPG, then it may impact the domestic LPG supply also. Already, the booking period for domestic gas has been extended from the existing 21 days to 25 days. We do not know what we will do," a resident who had come for a coffee said, after the hotel in Thiyagaraya Nagar declared a holiday.
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On March 10, the hotel association had voiced concern over sustaining their businesses as the existing stock of commercial LPG "would be sufficient to run the outlet only for one or two days".
Most of the restaurants have also cut the number of food items offered to customers and opted to prepare foods that require minimal usage of the commercial LPG cylinders.
"We have prepared idli, sambhar and vada. We have removed dosa varieties. In the afternoon and dinner, the menu will be variety rices only, since dosa and fried rice items require a continuous supply of LPG," a hotel owner in the famous East Coast Road said.
Representatives of Tamil Nadu Hotels Associations, a body representing the hotels and restaurants in the state, called on Chief Minister M K Stalin on March 10 and apprised him about the situation.
Following his interaction with the representatives, Stalin said he had requested the Union government to ensure that the shortage of commercial LPG does not affect the public, commercial establishments or MSMEs.
