New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to accept the request of the Centre seeking adjournment of tomorrow’s hearing by a Constitution Bench to revisit the 2013 verdict making gay sex illegal between two consenting adults and providing for their prosecution.
Ahead of the hearing counsel for Centre, Col. Balasubramanian “mentioned” before a bench of Chief Justice and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chadrachud to adjourn the hearing as the Centre was yet to spell out its stand through an affidavit. The CJI told the counsel “this matter has been pending for sometime and Centre should have filed its response. We will go ahead with the scheduled hearing.”
“We will not adjourn it. You (Centre) file whatever you want during the hearing.” As a result the hearing will begin on Tuesday as scheduled,” he added.
It must be noted that the UPA government did not file any affidavit giving its stand on the issue and a two-judge Bench decided the matter in 2013 based on the Centre’s oral submissions.
The present NDA government has also not taken any stand on this issue even though the matter is referred to a Constitution Bench.
The constitution Bench will commence hearing from July 10, a batch of petitions for a declaration that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code as unconstitutional to the extent that it provides prosecution of adults for indulging in consensual gay sex. A two judge bench of the Supreme Court in 2013 had ruled that Section 377 IPC which barred any form of sex against the order of nature” as illegal.
It has passed the verdict while overturning a judgment of a three-judge bench of the Delhi high court, which had earlier taken a contrary view and had decriminalised the IPC provision.
Section 377 Indian Penal Code says “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man, woman or animal, shall be punished with (imprisonment for life), or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable for be fine.
