PRAYAGRAJ: Observing that any display of affection among members of the LGBT community towards their partners in public, so long as it does not amount to indecency or has the potential to disturb public order, cannot be bogged down by majority perception, the Allahabad high court recently directed reinstatement of a home guard.
He had been sacked on the charge of “indecency” on the basis of a video in which he was purportedly seen “displaying affection” to his same-sex partner.
Terming it “vindictive”, Justice Sunita Agarwal quashed the order cancelling the home guard’s appointment in Bulandshahr, and directed the commandant general of the Home Guards, HQ Lucknow, to take him back into service with immediate effect.
The court passed the order while taking note of the reply (counter-affidavit) filed by the district commandant wherein it was stated that the “sexual orientation of the petitioner was indulgence in untoward activity”.
The HC said the order was is in violation of the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India wherein it had observed that “the sexual orientation of a person is his individual choice and any act of treating it as an offence would be interference in the right to privacy of the person concerned”.
The court, in its February 2 order, said the petitioner would be entitled to all admissible dues and the honorarium shall be paid regularly as and when the same fell due.