Union Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday clarified that the government would make its stand known before the Supreme Court on Wednesday on the issue of decriminalising gay sex among consenting adults.
It is currently an offence under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
Stating that he could not divulge the details as the matter was sub judice, Mr. Gowda told the media: “The government has already discussed the issue of 377 with the Attorney General. We will place our arguments before the Supreme Court.”
In February, the Supreme Court indicated that it would refer to a larger Bench a batch of petitions filed by NGOs led by the Naz Foundation.
These petitions had sought the apex court to have a relook at its earlier judgment upholding Section 377.
Sexual freedomThe new writ petition, listed for hearing before a Bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and Ashok Bhushan on Wednesday, was filed by several celebrities including chef Ritu Dalmia, hotelier Aman Nath and dancer N. S. Johar. They argued that sexual freedom was part of the fundamental rights protected by the Constitution.
Section 377 had inexorably constricted the rights, they argued.
Denied their right“Despite their achievements and contributions to India in various fields, they are being denied the right to sexuality, the most basic and inherent of fundamental rights. Section 377 [unnatural sexual act] renders them criminals in their own country,” their petition stated.
In 2013, the apex court set aside the Delhi High Court judgment of July 2, 2009, de-criminalising Section 377, saying that the decision should be left entirely within the domain of Parliament.
