Voices against 377 files review petition
Dear All,
An update on the Supreme Court case proceedings from Voices against 377. We have filed our review today in addition to those filed by other parties such as Naz and the Union of India. These will all mostly likely be clubbed and heard together.
We now wait for the reviews to be listed for consideration, the first of which will most likely be an in-chambers discussion, i.e. only among judges and not in open court.
We have asked for both a review of the judgment, of open court hearings (which means we go into arguments again), as well as a stay of the Supreme Court judgment in the meantime so the SC judgment will not hold while the review continues.
A synopsis of our key arguments is attached – this is part of the petition and is filed in this exact form. It reads legally but is clear and simple to understand for the most part and is short J We have focused on two arguments: (a) that this is about dignity and equality before anything else and should be decided on those grounds alone and that it must be the Courts role to do so; and (b) the fact that a number of affidavits showing the active use of 377 for torture, harassment and blackmail that were filed by Voices against 377 in the Delhi High Court were erroneously ignored by the Court who claimed that no such evidence had been provided.
We also re-enforce other parties’ arguments on mis-representing the position of the state, not considering arguments under 14, 15, 19 and 21 by the High Court, arguments about minuscule minorities etc.
We don’t know when this will come up for consideration – we will only know the night before it is listed. It could be days, weeks, or months. Hopefully, it will be soon. In the meantime, lets all continue the great energy across the country to keep the pressure up outside the courtroom.
A press release has also been issued. A copy is attached. Please feel free to forward it to press contacts.
Please do forward this on lists you are part of.
Best, Gautam
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