Govt puts Sec 377

CRIME OF GAY SEX

Steering clear of controversy on the issue of decriminalising Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, the Union government on Wednesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying it leaves the validity of the section to the wisdom of the Supreme Court.

“The constitutional validity Section 377 to the extent it applies to ’consensual acts of adults in private’ is concerned, the Union of India would leave the said question to the wisdom of this Hon’ble Court,” the affidavit filed by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said. “So it means you are not contesting it,” a constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DIpak Misra asked additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta after he placed the Centre’s affidavit before the court.

The bench is hearing a batch of petitions that question the vires of Section 377 of IPC that labels a homosexual act as a criminal act punishable with life imprisonment. Mehta replied: “Its upto the wisdom of the court.”

He cautioned the court against going beyond the scope of reference order as that would have wider ramifications.

“If the court touches on other issues other ancillary civil rights, the Centre must be given time to put across its view. Your decision should not have consequences that were neither contemplated nor there in the reference order,” Mehta said.

He said if the right to chose sexual partner is declared a fundamental right, then somebody may say they wanted to marry a sibling, which would be contrary to the laws governing to marriages.

NEW DELHI: