Supreme Court to hear Section 377 appeal on April 19
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COMMENTS 
Various religious and social groups have objected to the landmark Delhi High Court ruling of July 2009 decriminalising homosexuality, and will be heard in appeal
The Supreme Court has fixed April 19, 2011, for hearing a bunch of petitions challenging a Delhi High Court judgment decriminalising homosexual relationships among consenting adults. The petitions were filed by certain political, social, religious organisations -- two Christian church coalitions, two Hindu astrologers, three Muslim NGOs, a disciple of Baba Ramdev, among others.
On February 7, 2011, Justice G S Singhvi and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly directed all parties to file their documents within eight weeks. The court said it was fixing two days for hearing the matter and would consider extending the same depending on the nature and extent of the arguments.
The judges rejected a plea by one of the petitioners to implead the armed forces in the case.
In a landmark judgment delivered on July 2, 2009, the Delhi High Court ruled that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises gay sex among consenting adults, was a violation of fundamental rights.
That ruling followed a public interest litigation filed by NGO Naz Foundation along with the activist group Voices Against 377.
The high court ruled that any kind of discrimination violated the right to equality. ‘Moral indignation, howsoever strong, is not a valid basis for overriding individuals’ fundamental rights of dignity and privacy. In our scheme of things, constitutional morality must outweigh the argument of public morality even if it be the majoritarian view,’ the high court said.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code outlaws any act against the order of nature. It recommends a jail term of up to 10 years for violators, along with fine. Gay activists say the police misuses the section to harass them.
Source: IANS, February 7, 2011
DNA, February 7, 2011