# Congratulations to India - a step towards justice and freedom **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 9, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-to-india-a-step-towards-justice-and-freedom/821038 "2018-09-09T04:33:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-to-india-a-step-towards-justice-and-freedom/821038/1 "2018-09-09T04:33:08Z")
It seems to have passed notice here, but the Indian Supreme Court has [overturned](https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2018/09/07/645349730/photos-indians-laugh-cry-and-celebrate-after-gay-sex-is-decriminalized) the national law (a leftover from the British Raj, ta very much) that made gay sex illegal. I gather that many parts of India are very conservative, so this is not the end of the struggle by a long way. But at least it means that law enforcement will not be able to use this law as a tool for harassment and blackmail any more. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-to-india-a-step-towards-justice-and-freedom/821038/2 "2018-09-09T05:44:39Z")
Seeing how 1/6 of humanity lives in India, this is a very good thing for civil rights. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-to-india-a-step-towards-justice-and-freedom/821038/3 "2018-09-09T07:01:19Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > It seems to have passed notice here, but the Indian Supreme Court has [overturned](https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2018/09/07/645349730/photos-indians-laugh-cry-and-celebrate-after-gay-sex-is-decriminalized) the national law (a leftover from the British Raj, ta very much) that made gay sex illegal. > > I gather that many parts of India are very conservative, so this is not the end of the struggle by a long way. But at least it means that law enforcement will not be able to use this law as a tool for harassment and blackmail any more. Indian here. Great step. But some organisations are still trying to get marriages banned. As in you cannot get a Gay marriage certificate issued. Let us see how Government tackles this. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-to-india-a-step-towards-justice-and-freedom/821038/4 "2018-09-09T07:05:16Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > It seems to have passed notice here, but the Indian Supreme Court has [overturned](https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2018/09/07/645349730/photos-indians-laugh-cry-and-celebrate-after-gay-sex-is-decriminalized) the national law ( **a leftover from the British Raj, ta very much** ) that made gay sex illegal… Yes, because the Indian Parliament hasn’t got the power to repeal obsolete laws from the British period. Oh wait, the Lok Sabha does, and has had that power for 70 years. And in fact just last December, passed a couple of bills repealing a couple of hundred archaic laws from the Raj, bringing the total of repealed laws since Independence up to a couple of thousand. But they didn’t touch this one, and pundits blame its continued existence in the law book on the British. [Lok Sabha passes 2 bills to repeal 245 archaic laws](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/lok-sabha-passes-2-bills-to-repeal-245-archaic-laws/articleshow/62135666.cms) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-to-india-a-step-towards-justice-and-freedom/821038/5 "2018-09-09T08:59:36Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > But they didn’t touch this one, and pundits blame its continued existence in the law book on the British. > > [Lok Sabha passes 2 bills to repeal 245 archaic laws](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/lok-sabha-passes-2-bills-to-repeal-245-archaic-laws/articleshow/62135666.cms) Well quite, the article you link to refers specifically to 1029 archaic laws being repealed by India in 1950. Any left on the books are there by their own choosing and reflect the priorities of an independent India. That said, very well done for finally getting round to repealing it. A belated but welcome step forward. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-to-india-a-step-towards-justice-and-freedom/821038/6 "2018-09-09T16:08:25Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > But they didn’t touch this one, and pundits blame its continued existence in the law book on the British. Well, I wasn’t blaming its continued existence on the British, only its original existence. One can speculate about why they thought it was necessary in the first place, but oh well, water under the bridge and all that.