judgment of the high court is legally correct or not

The government will not oppose the Delhi High Court judgment which legalised homosexual acts between consenting adults, official documents show.

The three ministries had been directed by the Prime Minister to firm up the government stand, following the opposing stands taken by the Home and Health ministries before the high court last year.The note, likely to be put up before the Union Cabinet on Thursday, was prepared after meetings between the Home, Health and law Ministries. It states there appeared to be no “legal error in the judgment, which has not struck down the entire Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)”, given by the high court on July 2.

The three ministries had been directed by the Prime Minister to firm up the government stand, following the opposing stands taken by the Home and Health ministries before the high court last year.

The fresh government note is learnt to have been prepared on the basis of the opinion given by union Law Secretary TK Vishwanathan.

“Since the court has not struck down the entire section, and has confined itself to consensual acts in private, it will be difficult for the government to question the HC judgment,” the Law Secretary stated.

The three ministries decided to place it for the union cabinet’s approval, and let the Supreme Court “take a final view whether the judgment of the high court is legally correct or not”.

Nagendar Sharma / Saroj Nagi, Hindustan Times
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New Delhi, September 02, 2009