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August 2009: In what may have church leaders and
representatives of faith based organisations see red,
law minister Veerappa Moily praised the Delhi High Court
order decriminalising homosexuality and said it was
“well-documented and well-argued”.
Leaving no doubt that the government is positive with
the HC order, Moily said, “this is one judgement, which
has really stood out in the judicial annals of this
country.”
Expressing his views in an interview with a news
channel, the law minister stated that if the apex court
upholds the high court ruling, then the government might
only amend section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to make
it a law.
“It is an important question of law — particularly
relating to the constitutional provision of liberty and
privacy. As against that, obtaining a stay may be
sometimes preposterous, unless we have a final verdict
from the Supreme Court,” the minister said when
questioned why the government did not seek a stay on the
ruling.
Moily admitted that anti-gay law had been misused in the
past. “If it has been misused earlier, it can be misused
in future as well. Any law should not be used as an
instrument of exploitation, harassment or allow the
authority to misuse it. This is one such provision that
has a tendency of misuse and exploitation, and has been
misused,” he said.
Whatsoever, religious leaders still are strongly opposed
to the High Court order July 2 that permitted homosexual
sex between consenting adults.
Rev. Richard Howell, general secretary of Evangelical
Fellowship of India (EFI), earlier said he was “shocked
and saddened by the judgment” that has struck down
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that made
homosexuality “illegal” since 1860.
“In a secular state a distinction is made between God’s
unchanging moral laws and man’s legislated social laws -
civil and criminal. Decriminalization of homosexuality
in no way changes the moral order. It is common sense to
recognize that homosexual practice is a violation of the
natural order,” he said in a statement.
The Catholic Church has also made a foursquare refusal
to the gay judgement.
“Giving the impression that homosexuality is moral will
bring in sexual anarchy including child abuse in
society. The Indian culture which is founded on
self-discipline and asceticism should not be allowed to
disintegrate by opening the doors to sexual
licentiousness which is already rampant in our consumer
culture,” Cardinal Vithayathil, president of the CBCI,
warned.
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