SC refers fresh PIL challenging Section 377 to CJI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday referred the fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a group of LGBT celebrities challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to Chief Justice of India T.S Thakur for appropriate orders. Justice Thakur will decide if the petition is to be heard along with curative petition already pending in the apex court. Section 377 criminalises any 'unnatural' sexual contact by a person including acts of homosexuality. The Supreme Court, which reopened today after a summer break, had in February agreed to re-examine its December 2013 verdict that re-criminalised gay sex. The apex court also sent all curative petitions to a five-judge constitution bench seeking a review of the verdict described by act. There have been demands to repeal the Section as it hampers the rights of LGBT community.