In an interview to CNN’s
Fareed Zakaria on 18 July,
Supreme Court lawyers,
Menaka Gurswamy and
Arundhati Katju opened up as
being a couple.
Menaka Guruswamy
and Arundhati Katju had
spearheaded the legal
challenge to strike down
Section 377 of IPC.
The duo highlighted those
who suffered under the
law by enlisting more than
two dozen gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender
people as co-petitioners.
They contested that people
risked arrest for publicly
identifying themselves as part
of the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, Queer)
community.
The host Zakaria asked if the
case was much more personal
to them as the two were not
just partners in court but also a
couple.
In response, both Guruswamy
and Katju agreed and said
“Sure. That’s right”.
“The loss in 2013 was a loss
as lawyers, a loss as citizens.
It was a personal loss,” said
Guruswamy, referring to the
December 2013 judgment
of the SC which restored
Section 377 IPC to the book by
overturning the 2009 verdict of
Delhi High Court striking down
the colonial provision.
“It is not nice to be a ‘criminal’
who has to go back to court as
a lawyer to argue other cases,”
she added.
“We had a court where we
practiced as lawyers ... and
this court had just told us that
gay people were second class
citizens”, said Katju, who
added that it was very difficult.
Guruswamy and Katju had
AUGUST 2019 | WWW.WISHESH.NET