Indian lawyers who fought the country’s battle for LGBT rights among Times’ 100 most influential people in the world

• Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju have been featured in the Time Magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in the world.
  
• They argued that discrimination on the basis of sexuality and its expression is against fundamental human rights.
  
• Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani also featured in the list.

Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju, the Indian lawyers who won the case for scrapping India’s colonial-era law that had criminalised homosexuality, have been featured in the Time Magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in the world.

Last year, India’s Supreme Court struck down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code in a landmark decision, legalising same-sex relations.

Forty-four-year-old Guruswamy, a lecturer at Columbia Law School, practises law before the Supreme Court of India. And Katju is a doctor of Juridical Science candidate at Columbia Law School, with over 13 years of experience in Indian trials.

They argued that discrimination on the basis of sexuality and its expression is against fundamental human rights.

Writing for Time magazine, Indian actor Priyanka Chopra said, “Arundhati and Menaka have helped take a giant leap for the LGBTQ+ rights in the world’s largest democracy. In their committed fight for justice, they have shown us that we as a society must continue to make progress, even after laws are changed, and we must make an effort to understand, accept and love. ”

Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani also featured in the list, which also included US President Donald Trump, Pope Francis, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Facebook founder ark Zuckerberg and Indian-American comedian Hasan Minhaj.


With IANS