A Supreme Court advocate has filed a petition for dismissal of central government's plea seeking review of the court judgement that makes gay sex an offence in India.
"The review petition distorts the fine constitutional balance between the Parliament, government of India and the apex court by effectively creating an unwarranted conflict between the Parliament and the government of India and by needlessly interposing this court into the said conflict. As such, the petition filed by Centre deserves to be dismissed in entirety," advocate Vishwanath Chaturvedi told PTI.
His petition argued that the Centre should have amended the law and then brought the amendment against the SC verdict that reinstated section 377 (unnatural sexual offences) of the Indian Penal Code, making homosexuality a criminal offense as enacted in 1862.
The apex court struck down a high court judgment on 11 December in its verdict, sparking protests across the nation by/for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community.
Gay rights activists, along with the Centre, had moved a review petition in the SC.
"The cause of democracy is better served by the legislature stepping in to modify the statute rather than a judge pour unwarranted meaning into the dead words of a statute," the advocate added.
Recently a gay couple from Haryana was granted asylum in the US due to the SC judgement. They are currently living in Wisconsin with a relative.
