India’s Gay ban: Court makes moralist Govt squirm

So much so that today it invited the Delhi High Court’s strong censure when it effectively equated homosexuality with “widow remarriage.” And, at one point, provoked the bench to remark that going by the government’s stand on homosexuality and AIDS, it would be wise to ban sexual intercourse itself.

The Centre’s affidavits filed earlier in the court reveal a “casualness” in treating the question of legalising homosexuality. Here is a sample of the affidavit that irked a Bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar today: “Acts glorified in the past like dowry, domestic violence, widow remarriage have now been brought under the purview of criminal justice system, likewise practice of homosexuality or lesbianism is not accepted in our society.”

This prompted the bench to ask the government, represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) P P Malhotra, on what basis they made “widow remarriage” an offence.