Campaigners in India have begun a new challenge against the Supreme Court’s decision to recriminalise homosexuality.
The Naz Foundation, an HIV support group, yesterday filed a curative petition challenging last December’s verdict.
It argues that the court made a “mistake” in its judgment and is guilty of a “gross miscarriage of justice”.
On 11 December, India’s highest court reintroduced Section 377 of India’s penal code banning sex “against the order of nature”, which is widely interpreted to mean gay sex.
The Supreme Court threw out a 2009 New Delhi High Court decision that ruled the law was unconstitutional.
It means offenders can be punished with up to 10 years in jail – although prosecutions are rare.
The court last month dismissed a review petition filed by the Indian Government and the Naz Foundation against its December verdict.
In explaining the ruling the bench said: “While reading down Section 377, the High Court overlooked that a miniscule fraction of the country’s population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders, and in the more than 150 years past, less than 200 persons have been prosecuted for committing offence under Section 377, and this cannot be made a sound basis for declaring that Section ultra vires Articles 14, 15 and 21.”
Human rights groups expressed worries that this would render LGBT Indians vulnerable to police harassment and prosecution.
In response, the Naz Foundation stated that it would file a petition for review of the court’s decision.
by Scott Roberts
Source – PinkNews
