The verdict will also make it easier to provide medical treatment to gays, many of whom are at high risk of HIV-Aids. The National Aids Control Organisation, run by the Union Health Ministry, had in fact filed an affidavit before the Delhi High Court stating that Section 377 made it difficult for them to implement health measures amongst India’s 23 lakh homosexuals. The Home Ministry had, however, opposed the move.

The current UPA government had initially moved to repeal Section 377, but later backtracked “to hold discussions with all sections of society,” including religious leaders. In contrast, the court said that “in our view, Indian Constitutional law does not permit criminal law to be held captive by the popular misconceptions of who the LGBTs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders) are.”

Without explicitly suggesting so, the court also hinted to Parliament to “effectuate the recommendations of the Law Commission of India in its 172nd Report.” The Law Commission’s report had recommended that Parliament amend Section 377 through legislation.

Purushottaman Mulloli, whose organisation Joint Action Council, Kannur (JACK) had opposed the petition in court, told The Indian Express that he was “disappointed with the verdict,” and was considering filing an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Though the verdict is high on symbolism, it applies only within the state of Delhi. An appeal in the Supreme Court might take a while. For the moment, though, as a 149-year-old law faces its biggest defeat, Mayur Suresh, a gay man and lawyer in the case, said he was “simply soaking in the significance of the moment.”