The government left it to the Supreme Court to decide on "correctness" of the Delhi High Court order which decriminalised homosexuality.
Playing safe on the controversial gay sex issue, the government today left it to the Supreme Court to decide on "correctness" of the Delhi High Court order which decriminalised homosexuality between two consenting adults.
The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Manmohan Singh, considered the report of the three-member Group of ministers formed on the issue and after a thorough discussion, decided that attorney general G Vahanvati will "assist" the Supreme Court on it.
"The cabinet decided to ask the Attorney General to assist the Supreme Court in every way desired by it in arriving at an opinion on the correctness of the judgement of the High Court," Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni told reporters.
She refused to say anything more despite being pressed to give details, maintaining that she was not authorised to "explain" further as the matter related to the cabinet meet.
She merely said the Supreme Court can decide if the High Court was "right or not" in decriminalising gay sex.
The cabinet decided against taking any stand on the sensitive issue to avoid getting caught in any controversy, a minister said explaining why it was left to the apex court to take a view.
HRD minister Kapil Sibal, law minister Veerappa Moily and home minister P Chidambaram were among those who contended that the government need not challenge the High Court order as some private parties have already done so.
It was pointed out that since the High Court had not struck down Section 377 of IPC on sexual relations and had only interpreted it, the matter should be left to the Supreme Court to decide.
A minister said the Supreme Court was the proper authority to interpret the High Court's judgement and the government should not get involved in that. In the process, the AG could assist.
"There was a thorough discussion and at the end, there was unanimity that the matter should be left to the Supreme Court to decide," said a minister who attended the meeting.
The High Court, in an order on July 7, had declared as legal sex between consenting gay partners, which was earlier considered a criminal act under Section 377 of the IPC.
Some religious groups have opposed it, with a Christian body, a disciple of Yoga guru Ramdev and Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) approaching the Supreme Court which sought the government's response by October one.
The Supreme Court had earlier refused to stay the High Court order, saying it would await the government's response on the issue.
In view of the sensitive nature of the issue, the government had set up a Group of ministers comprising home minister P Chidambaram, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and law minister Veerappa Moily to formulate a view on it.
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