Sec 377: Law Ministry will send note to PMO

“As we read the judgment,the judgment deals with only one aspect of Section 377. Section 377 is left intact except for one aspect. So we have asked the Department of Law to prepare a note based on the judgment. We will take a look at the note and decide what needs to be done,” Chidambaram said.

Chidambaram refused to say whether the government would appeal against the Delhi High Court order or whether any consensus had been reached at Friday’s meeting that was held without the help of any officers. The three ministers are said to have discussed whether the order was applicable throughout the country or only to Delhi area.

At least one minister was also said to be of the opinion that the matter be better left for the consideration of the Cabinet. The minister was of the view that just three ministers should not make a final decision on such an important matter.

Sources said,once the note is submitted to the Prime Minister,the matter would most likely be referred to the Cabinet. The matter has been discussed by the Union Cabinet of the previous UPA government. Because of divergent and irreconcilable views,the Cabinet had asked the then Home,Law and Health Ministers to reach a mutually agreeable decision.

In the last government,then Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Law Minister H R Bhardwaj had been opposed to the decriminalisation of homosexual relationships. However,earlier this week,Chidambaram told reporters that new ministers in the government might bring in new thinking on the subject and the matter needed to be looked into afresh.