New Delhi: The Centre Wednesday left it to the Supreme Court to test the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the IPC which criminalises “consensual acts of adults in private”, but urged it not to deal with issues like gay marriages, adoption and ancillary civil rights of LGBTQ.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which is hearing a clutch of petitions seeking de-criminalisation of the 158-year-old colonial law, told the Centre that it was not “considering all these issues”.
“We are not considering all these issues. One cannot judge these issues in vacuum … we will not give any ruling on the corollary rights of LGBTQ community, relating to their marriage or other ancillary civil rights,” the bench, which also comprised Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, said. Justice Chandrachud also observed that “We do not want a situation where two homosexuals enjoying a walk on the Marine Drive (in Mumbai) should be disturbed by the police and charged under section 377.”
The observations came when Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted the government’s stand that so far as the constitutional validity of Section 377, to the extent it applies to ‘consensual acts of adults in private’, was concerned, it would leave the question to the wisdom of the court. He also urged it not to widen the scope of the hearing to issues like gay marriages, adoption and inheritance.
‘Adultery will kill sanctity of marriage’
New Delhi: Striking down section 497 of the Indian Penal Code which provides for punishment only to a man for having extra-martial sexual ties with the wife of another man, will destroy the institution of marriage, the Centre told the Supreme Court Wednesday. In an affidavit to the apex court, the ministry of home affairs sought dismissal of a plea challenging the validity of the penal law on adultery, saying that the Section 497 “supports, safeguards and protects the institution of marriage”. “It is submitted that striking down section 497 of IPC and Section 198(2) of the CrPC will prove to be detrimental to the intrinsic Indian ethos which gives paramount importance to the institution and sanctity of marriage.
