Govt sits out on Sec 377, leaves it to SC’s wisdom

Centre says will give position if court looks at ‘ancillary issues’

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday left it to the “wisdom” of the Supreme Court to decide on the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises same-sex acts, but asked the top court to steer clear of civil rights issues related to this, effectively clearing the way for the court to strike down the colonial era law, although some activists criticised it for what they saw as a hands-off approach. The Union home ministry filed an affidavit in front of a Constitution bench on the second day of the hearing, and said that as long as the question was about “consensual acts of adults in private”, the government would leave it to the wisdom of “this Hon’ble Court.”

“So it means you are not contesting it?” the five-judge bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra asked additional solicitor general (ASG) Tushar Mehta. “It is up to the wisdom of the court,” Mehta replied, but asked the court to not go beyond the scope of constitutional validity as that might have wider consequences. “If the court touches on other issues, other ancillary civil rights, the Centre must be given time to put across its view.”

“The ruling would be only limited to whether two consenting adults even if engaged in ‘unnatural sex’ will be liable for prosecution or not for any offence,” Misra responded.