Journalism of Courage
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday voiced his opinion against the Supreme Court’s verdict that termed gay sex as illegal,saying,homosexuality is matter of personal freedom. Addressing mediapersons in the national capital,the Gandhi scion said that he agreed more with the Delhi High Court order which had de-criminalised gay sex.
Earlier on Thursday,Congress president Sonia Gandhi also said she was “disappointed that the Supreme Court has reversed” the Delhi High Court’s ruling on the issue of gay rights. She said she hope the Parliament will “address the issue and uphold the Constitutional guarantee of life and liberty to all citizens of India,including those directly affected by this judgment“.
“The High Court had wisely removed an archaic,repressive and unjust law that infringed on the basic human rights enshrined in our Constitutions. This Constitution has given us a great legacy,a legacy of liberalism and openness,that enjoin us to combat prejudice and discrimination of any kind. We are proud that our culture has always been an inclusive and tolerant one,” she said in the state.
Meanwhile,the government on Thursday said it was considering all options to decriminalise homosexuality and filing a curative petition in the apex court could be one of them.
“The government is considering all options to restore the (Delhi) High Court verdict on (Section) 377 (of IPC). We must decriminalise adult consensual relationships,” Law Minister Kapil Sibal said.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Supreme Court ruling was “wrong” and all options would be looked at to set right the Supreme Court order.
Terming the judgement “disappointing”,he said the court should have applied “current social and moral values” in the case.
(With PTI Inputs)
