New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, deferred
till Tuesday, the hearing on a bunch of appeals, both opposing
and supporting the July 2009 verdict of the Delhi High Court,
that decriminalised gay sex among consenting adults in
private.
A bench of justice G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhyaya
deferred the hearing to Tuesday after briefly hearing a
counsel who said the high court verdict had created
confusion.
The counsel claimed since July 2, 2009, when the
judgement was passed by the high court, the question arose if
various other states and union territories too were bound by
the high court's judgement as the high court's jurisdiction
was limited only to the national capital.
"Are you suggesting the high courts have no power to
quash a central legislation?" the bench said.
As the counsel persisted with his arguments, the apex
court said "don't go into the trivialities, come to the
substance." Later, it adjourned the matter till Tuesday.
The bench was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by
anti-gay rights activists and also by political, social and
religious organisations, which have opposed the high court
verdict decriminalising the homosexual conduct and behaviour.
Various gay rights activists, on the other hand, moved the
apex court supporting the high court's ruling.
Earlier, on February 7 last year, the bench had refused
to implead the armed forces in the case on the contentious
issue.
People and organisations from different fields have
come out in support of or against the path-breaking verdict
of the Delhi High Court which had sparked a controversy.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 13, 2012, 20:23