India may be on track for a major victory for gay rights after the country’s supreme court agreed to re-examine a colonial-era law outlawing sex between men. The court on Monday said it would refer the question of the validity of section 377 of the Indian penal code to a larger bench for examination before October this year.

Section 377, modelled on a 16th-century British law, bans “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”, and is punishable by life imprisonment. About 1,347 cases were registered in 2015, most in regards to alleged sexual offences against children. The supreme court observed in 2013 that fewer than 200 people had been convicted for homosexual acts under the legislation but activists say it is regularly used to blackmail and intimidate LBGTI Indians as well as to stymie HIV/Aids prevention efforts.(theguardian)…[+]