SC to hear plea against ministers’ criticism of gay verdict

December 22, 2013 12:08 am | Updated December 04, 2021 11:10 pm IST - New Delhi:

The Supreme Court will hear on January 6, 2014 a writ petition filed by social activist Purushotham Mulloli questioning the statements made by some Union Ministers attacking its judgment relating to Section 377 (homosexuality) of the Indian Penal code.

The petitioner said the criticism by Union Ministers Milind Deora, Kapil Sibal and P. Chidambaram and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of the gay judgment was not fair, and thereby they violated the oath of office.

The petitioner said if a Minister or the government was aggrieved over the judgment, there was the remedy of a review petition and, thereafter, a curative petition. Pointing out that that the Centre did not file any appeal against the Delhi High Court judgment decriminalising homosexuality, he said it was strange that in a case in which the Government of India neither supported the law nor opposed it, some ministers were making statements which were “irrational” and in a manner “lowering the respect and dignity” of the apex court and “destroying” confidence in the judiciary.” (The Centre has since sought review of the apex court judgment.)

A Bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam fixed the date of hearing on a mention made by counsel Harshvir Pratap Sharma.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.