The Allahabad High Court has quashed the petitioner’s cancellation order that appointed him as a Home Guard, passed by the District Commandant of Home Guards, Bulandshahar. Justice Sunita Agarwal observed that the order was “vindictive in nature” and directed the Commandant General of Home Guards to take the petitioner back in service “with immediate effect”.
The Single Bench observed that the cancellation of appointment order was passed in 2019, “on account of some video of the petitioner which was made viral by someone”. The court noted that in the counter affidavit filed by the Officer who issued the cancellation order, “sexual orientation of the petitioner has been stated to be indulgence in untoward activity”.
Referring to the Apex Court’s decision in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018), Justice Agarwal said that the counter affidavit was in violation of the precedent since, “sexual orientation of the person is his individual choice and any act of treating it as an offence would be interference in the right of the privacy of the person concerned”.
She added, “It was held (in Navtej Singh Johar) that any display of affection amongst the members of the LGBT community towards their partners in the public, so long as it does not amount to indecency or has the potentiality to disturb public order cannot be bogged down by majority perception.”
Accordingly, the court allowed his writ petition and held that the petitioner shall be entitled to all admissible dues and the honorarium shall be paid regularly as and when the same falls due
The order may be read here:
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