THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - July 13, 2018 - Topic 1
There is finally good reason to believe that
consensual gay sex may once again be decriminalised. The ongoing hearing before a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court indicates that there is now a
better appreciation of the need for equal constitutional protection to all
individuals without any discrimination than was the case in 2013, when a two-member
Bench declined to read down Section 377 of the
Indian Penal Code as homosexuals constituted only a “minuscule minority”. The
Centre’s stand was believed to be critical when the current hearing began this
month.
The Union government is cautiously supporting the cause, but it has
stopped short of taking a categorical position. By leaving it to
the Supreme Court’s wisdom to decide on the
constitutionality of Section 377, the Centre has signalled it is not opposed to
the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships as long as these are limited to
consensual acts between adults in private. At the same time, its position is
hedged against the possibility that the Constitution Bench, currently
reconsidering the court’s 2013 judgment upholding the validity of Section 377,
may venture into other rights for the LGBTQs relating to marriage and
inheritance. In the event of the court going into issues and rights that are
not slated for reconsideration, it wants to file a detailed counter-affidavit
spelling out its stand.
Observations by the judges of the Bench,
including the Chief Justice of India, indicate that it is now focussing only on
Section 377. However, at least one judge has observed that the question
involved was not only one relating to sex, but the right to life and the right
to privacy of those in such relationships. The current hearing is taking place
against the backdrop of a nine-member Bench’s verdict last year in Justice
K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, which said “the right to privacy and the
protection of sexual orientation lie at the core of the fundamental rights
guaranteed by Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution”. In other words, a
whole gamut of rights flowing from the decriminalisation of homosexual
relationships must be examined, if not now, then at least as and when they
arise. Obviously worried about the reaction of some religious and conservative
sections if homosexuality is decriminalised, the Centre has sought to dissuade
the court from going into other related rights. Its apprehension, perhaps, is
that once homosexuality is no more an offence, it may lead to demands to
legalise same-sex marriages and inheritance by survivorship among gay partners.
While the current focus is on the urgent need to overturn the retrograde
judgment of 2013 in Suresh Kumar Koushal, the extension of constitutional
rights to citizens, irrespective of gender and sexual orientation, is long
overdue.
Vocabulary
Consensual: relating
to or involving consent, especially mutual consent.
Example: He
admitted to having consensual sex with two women
Indicate: point
out; show.
Example: Dotted
lines indicate the text's margins
Synonyms: specify, designate, mark, stipulate, show
Appreciation: a
full understanding of a situation.
Example: They
have an appreciation of the needs of users
Synonyms: acknowledgment, recognition, realization, knowledge, awareness
Cautious: careful
to avoid potential problems or dangers.
Example: A
cautious driver
Synonyms: careful, heedful, attentive, alert, watchful, vigilant, circumspect
Uphold: confirm
or support something that has been questioned
Example: The
court upheld his claim for damages
Synonyms: confirm, endorse, sustain, approve, agree
to, support, champion
Inheritance: a
thing that is inherited.
Example: He
came into a comfortable inheritance
Synonyms: legacy, bequest, endowment, bestowal, provision, birthright, heritage
Verdict: a
decision on a disputed issue in a civil or criminal case or an inquest.
Example: The
jury returned a verdict of ‘not guilty.’
Synonyms: judgment, adjudication, decision, finding, ruling, decree, resolution
Conservative: a
person who is averse to change and holds to traditional values and attitudes,
typically in relation to politics.
Example: They
saw fascists as more patriotic and determined than traditional conservatives .
Synonyms: right-winger, reactionary, rightist, diehard, Republican, Tory
Apprehension: anxiety
or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.
Example: He
felt sick with apprehension
Synonyms: anxiety, worry, unease, nervousness, nerves, misgivings, disquiet
Retrograde: directed
or moving backward.
Example: A
retrograde flow
Synonyms: backward, backwards, reverse, rearward
Overdue: not
having arrived, happened, or been done by the expected time.
Example: The
rent was nearly three months overdue
Synonyms: late, behind
schedule, behind time, delayed, unpunctual; unpaid
