The Hindu Editorial Analysis |10th Jan 2018

Table of Contents

Question of equality

Supreme Court has an opportunity to reconsider its 2013 order criminalising gay sex
SC upheld the validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises gay sex.
Verdict in Suresh Kumar Koushal
Having sexual intercourse “against the order of nature”
LGBT community was just a “minuscule fraction” of the population
Nine-judge Bench judgment in the „right to privacy‟ case- K.S. Puttaswamy
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.
Fresh hope that the Delhi HC judgment of 2009, which read down Section 377 to decriminalise
National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (2014), concerning the rights of transgender persons, questioned the Koushal reasoning
Court must not confine itself to the issue of privacy, but also address the discrimination inherent in Section 377 on the basis of sexual orientation- Article 14, which protects the right to equality.

Roads must be kept out of wildlife corridors to protect tigers and other animals
Bor reserve in Maharashtra- building unsuitable roads through wildlife habitats has a terrible cost
Tiger in its prime to a Hit-and-run accident is an irony- Most protected species.
It is inevitable that new roads are built,
But good scientific advice to keep them out of wildlife corridors is mostly ignored.
The sensible response to the growing number of roadkills should be to stop road construction in wildlife habitat and reassess the impact.
After all, protected areas are just 4% of the land
Wildlife Institute of India states that tigers in at least 26 reserves face the destructive impact
of roads and traffic.
Insist on modification of existing roads to provide crossings for animals at locations
National highway could block •Flow of genes between regions
WildlifeAction Plan 2002-2016 announced by Atal BihariVajpayee
Centre should order the modifications without delay wherever they are needed.

Page-1-The Supreme Court onTuesday modified its November
30, 2016, interim order and made it optional for cinema halls to play the 52-second
national anthem before every show
Home Ministry has appointed a 12-member inter-ministerial committee,
which will take a •final call on the playing of the national anthem in cinema halls and public places.
The committee, led by Additional Secretary B.R. Sharma
Page-1,10-India, U.K. to ink illegal migrants pact
India will sign a pact with the United Kingdom for a return of illegal Indian migrants within a month of their being detected by authorities.
The U.K. has consistently raised the issue of return of illegal migrants — said to number in thousands — with India.The memorandum of understanding comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‟s proposed visit in March.
Page-1-No viable alternative to hanging, Centre tells court
Supreme Court has sought less painful means of execution