The stage is set for filing of a review petition against the Supreme Court order recriminalizing gay sex between adults with the law ministry receiving attorney general G E Vahanvati’s opinion. The apex court had on December 11 set aside a 2009 Delhi high court order which had decriminalized same-sex relationships.
Law minister Kapil Sibal had said the government had no option but to change the law and was considering all options to restore the HC verdict on Section 377 of the IPC.
“We must decriminalize adult consensual relationships,” the minister had said after his party brass had taken a similar stand seeking to challenge the SC verdict. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had said the HC judgment was right and went well with India’s inclusive culture.
Sibal had clarified that options before the government included filing a review petition before a larger bench of the SC. He had ruled out any legislative initiative as that would be explored only if the judicial review was not successful. The SC had upheld the legality of Section 377 of the IPC which provides for imprisonment up to life term.
The case was first filed in 2001 by an NGO Naz Foundation in the Delhi HC seeking decriminalizing gay sex among consenting adults.
The HC had first dismissed the petition in 2004 but after the petitioner approached the apex court and the SC directed the HC to reconsider the matter on merit in 2009, it decriminalized gay sex, partly striking down Section 377.
Law minister Kapil Sibal had said the government had no option but to change the law and was considering all options to restore the HC verdict on Section 377 of the IPC.
“We must decriminalize adult consensual relationships,” the minister had said after his party brass had taken a similar stand seeking to challenge the SC verdict. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had said the HC judgment was right and went well with India’s inclusive culture.
Sibal had clarified that options before the government included filing a review petition before a larger bench of the SC. He had ruled out any legislative initiative as that would be explored only if the judicial review was not successful. The SC had upheld the legality of Section 377 of the IPC which provides for imprisonment up to life term.
The case was first filed in 2001 by an NGO Naz Foundation in the Delhi HC seeking decriminalizing gay sex among consenting adults.
The HC had first dismissed the petition in 2004 but after the petitioner approached the apex court and the SC directed the HC to reconsider the matter on merit in 2009, it decriminalized gay sex, partly striking down Section 377.
No comments:
Post a Comment