Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to the Centre, the Delhi government and the NGO Naz Foundation seeking their stand on a lawsuit challenging the July 2 verdict of the Delhi High Court decriminalising gay sex.
A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam issued notices on the lawsuit filed by a Delhi advocate Suresh Kaushal. The bench has sought replies of the various parties by July 20, the next of hearing of the matter.
Challenging the high court verdict, Kaushal contended before the bench that the high court had delivered a "perverse ruling" that would threaten the natural balance of society.
"By any standards this is animal instinct. This is unnatural. It should have been avoided and not permitted because tomorrow people will seek to have physical relations with animals. West is supplying all these problems to us. None of our scriptures say this is tradition or a right. Only one way...our one is is relationship between man and woman," Kaushal said.
The Delhi High Court, in a landmark judgment, had said last week that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code should be amended and any sex between consenting adults should be legalised.
Kaushal alleged that since the High Court verdict there have been seven cases of gay marriages and order was likely to affect the institution of marriage.
However, the Supreme Court said: "we have not changed the definition of marriage." For "gay sex, to my knowledge, no body has been prosecuted," said Justice Sathasivam.
Of the major political groupings, only the Communist Party of India-Marxist has welcomed the court order. The Congress and the BJP have reacted cautiously and have not said what stand will they take if the issue comes in Parliament.
Religious leaders of all faiths have also united against legalising homosexuality.
On Thursday, a Hindu Shankaracharya, a Jamaat-e-Islami cleric, Delhi's Catholic Bishop and a Jain muni held a press conference where they described gay sex as immoral, unnatural, and alien to Indian society, culture, tradition and religious ethos.
Gay rights activist Sunil Gupta, however, strongly disputes their arguments.
"We want decriminalisation not legalisagtion. We are talking about the rights of people. The kind of comments being made about homosexuals are immature. We must be allowed to live with dignity and freedom. Millions are silently being harassed," he said.
Meanwhile, Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily says the Government has not received the Supreme Court's notice but will reply in due course.
He said, "It's not the view of an individual minister but the view of the Government as a whole. The PM has directed all three ministries to analyse the High Court's verdict and its impact. The report will be submitted in a day or two."
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.