India's Supreme Court today upheld its December verdict which restored colonial era sodomy laws to the nation, Bloomberg reports:
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by H.L. Dattu today refused to review its December verdict that reversed a 2009 order of a lower court that had decriminalized same-sex intercourse between consenting adults.
The government and rights activists submitted that criminalizing gay sex amounts to a miscarriage of justice to the gay, lesbian and transgender communities. The top court in its December ruling had said it is up to lawmakers to amend the existing law if they want.
The India Times adds:
Seeking a stay on the operation of the judgment, gay rights activists, including NGO Naz Foundation, had said thousands from the LGBT community became open about their sexual identity during the past four years after the high court decriminalized gay sex and they are now facing the threat of being prosecuted.
They had submitted that criminalizing gay sex amounts to violation of fundamental rights of the LGBT community.
The NGO had submitted there are a number of "grave errors of law" and "wrong application of law" in the judgment which needs to be corrected.
"This court has failed to consider the submission that Section 377 violates the right to health of men who have sex with men, since criminalization of same sex activity impedes access to health services, including HIV prevention efforts. This contention was supported by the ministry of health and family welfare in this court," the review petition had said.
