Clarify stand on gay rights, SC tells govt

Perplexed at the divergent stands taken by the two ministries — home and health — on the legality of homosexual and lesbian relationship, the Supreme Court has asked the country’s top law officer, attorney general Goolam E Vahanvati, to iron out the differing perceptions and make submission on Wednesday.

Earlier, the court castigated the Union government and said the Centre has taken “this case very casually”. “This practice needs to be condemned and we are going to say it in our judgment,” judges added.

Examining the lawsuits arising from a Delhi HC ruling in 2009 which said that homosexual and lesbian relationships are not an offence under Section 377 of IPC, the court expressed its surprise over the  government’s flip-flop  attitude saying, “We don’t know in how many cases they have been neutral.”

“This is one of the peculiar cases where the Centre, which had contested the matter in HC, is taking a neutral stand,” the court added. The court also expressed concern that in the last 60 years, the Parliament has not considered amending Section 377 of IPC.