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| Law Minister refuses comment on gay sex issue pending in the Delhi HC | | | AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, Oct 19: Law Minister H R Bhardwaj on Sunday refused to comment on any aspect of a matter related to gay sex pending in the Delhi High Court, before which the Union Home Ministry and the Health Ministry have filed conflicting affidavits on the issue.
Asked if the Home Ministry's stand against decriminalising gay sex among consenting adults would prevail over the Health Ministry's suggestion to relax the legal provisions under IPC section 377, Bhardwaj said "It's a subjudice matter, I cannot comment."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week had also asked the two ministries to sort out differences.
During the court hearing earlier, the government counsel had said that the Home Ministry was not in favour of tampering with the provisions which prescribes punishment for homosexual acts.
The ministry said that the purpose of Section 377 was to provide a healthy environment in the society by criminalising unnatural sexual activities which are against the order of nature.
On the other hand, the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO), which comes under the Health Ministry, said in its affidavit that it did not favour the enforcement of penal provisions against consenting homosexual adults which declares such acts as an offence punishable upto life imprisonment. |
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