India’s top court legalises gay sex

NEW DELHI: India’s top court scrapped a colonial-era ban on gay sex yesterday in a landmark judgment that activists hope will uphold the right to equality.

Gay sex is considered taboo by many in socially conservative India, and was reinstated as a criminal offence in 2013 after four years of decriminalisation.

A five-judge bench in India’s Supreme Court was unanimous in overturning the ban.

“Any consensual sexual relationship between two consenting adults – homosexuals, heterosexuals or lesbians – cannot be said to be unconstitutional,” Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said.

Gay sex had been punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

The law against gay sex, known as “Section 377”, was introduced during British rule more than a century-and-a-half ago.

It had prohibited “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” – which was widely interpreted to refer to homosexual sex.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had said it would support any decision by the Supreme Court but one of its MPs criticised the ruling.

“This verdict could give rise to other issues such as an increase in the number of HIV cases,” Subramanian Swamy said.

Shashi Tharoor, a senior member of the opposition Congress party, said “the government has no place in the bedroom”. – Reuters