In what is a huge win for gay rights activists, a Division Bench of Justice A.P. Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar overturned a 149-year-old law. “We declare that Section 377 of the IPC, insofar as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21 [Right to Protection of Life and Personal Liberty], 14 [Right to Equality before Law] and 15 [Prohibition of Discrimination on Grounds of Religion, Race, Caste, Sex or Place of Birth] of the Constitution," the bench wrote on a 105-page judgment.

The court also ruled that Section 377 would continue to govern non-consensual penile non-vaginal sex and penile non-vaginal sex involving minors.

Many gay activists have been calling to legalize gay sex and do away with Section 377 altogether. Currently under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, men who have sex with men are regarded as criminals as this act is "against the order of nature".

Former Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had created a furor last year when he said the fight against AIDS will be significantly advanced when homosexuality is legalized in the country . Ramadoss had made these observations at a World AIDS meet in Mexico City last August.

It appears that Mr Ramadoss' observations struck a chord with the rest of the country.

The Delhi HC upheld the PIL plea by Delhi-based non-government organization Naz Foundation and observed, "There is almost unanimous medical and psychiatric opinion that homosexuality is not a disease or a disorder and is just another expression of human sexuality."

The verdict was welcomed by the CPM, while Samajwadi Party distanced from it. However the Congress and the BJP have not made any comment as of now.

With this ruling, India becomes the 127th nation in the world to take a step towards removing the stigma attached to homosexuality.