Govt won’t take firm position on homosexuality

Minutes after a lawyer representing the Union home ministry invited flak for telling the Supreme Court (SC) that homosexuality was ‘immoral’, the government did a volte-face and said it had not taken a stand on the issue. The confusion led to widespread criticism of the government for its failure to clarify its position on the 2009 Delhi high court (HC) verdict decriminalising homosexuality.

Additional solicitor general PP Malhotra on Thursday vociferously sought the quashing of the HC order. “Gay sex is highly immoral and against social order, and there is high chance of spreading diseases (like AIDS) through such acts,” he told a bench of justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya. Health ministry counsel Mohan Jain, too, said he was instructed to voice the Centre’s opinion on the subject in the SC.

The home ministry immediately swung into damage control mode and said no lawyer was asked to make such remarks. “The ministry has not taken any position on homosexuality. It has also not given any instruction apart from conveying the decision of the cabinet,” it said. However, by then, the government’s lack of cohesive approach on the subject was exposed.

The SC ridiculed the government on realising that it was speaking in two voices and slammed it for its failure to achieve unanimity on the issue. The apex court is hearing petitions filed by anti-gay rights activists, and also by political, social and religious organisations who have opposed the HC verdict.

The ministry’s statement referred to a cabinet decision two years ago that said the Union government “may not file an appeal against the SC judgment; however, if any other party to the case prefers to appeal, the attorney general may be requested to assist the SC to examine the matter and to decide the legal questions involved”. 

However, it may be recalled that when the case was being decided by the HC, the home ministry had maintained that this kind of sexual orientation was “against nature and spreads HIV”.
Malhotra on Thursday said it was essential to make homosexuality a criminal offence to prevent child abuse. 

“Moreover, Indian society is largely against homosexuality. Laws cannot run separately from society and the morals of the time,” he said.

Malhotra alleged that the HC had earlier considered only judgments of foreign countries where homosexuality may not be resented. During the proceedings, the judges asked the anti-gay rights groups to “broaden the canvas” while opposing the HC verdict and not limit their arguments to only carnal intercourse as the final verdict on the issue would have wider implications.