HC said India not ready for gays, SC says rethink ruling

Rejecting a Delhi High Court order that homosexuality and gay relationships constituted ‘‘unnatural offence’’ and that Indian society was not ready for it, the Supreme Court today sent the matter back to the court for reconsideration.

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal, Justices CK Thakker and R V Raveendran, said the “matter should be examined in detail” and not dismissed by the High Court in the manner it did last year.

The response of the apex court came following a Public Interest Litigation by Naz Foundation, which contended that penal action under Article 377 comes in the way of its anti-AIDS campaigns. The Delhi High Court had rejected the petition, and the stand was supported by the Centre.

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