Centre leaves section 377 which criminalises gay sex up to Supreme Court wisdom
New Delhi, July 11 (IBNS): Days after trying to defer the hearing by a month, the Centre on Wednesday said it has left the matter of Section 377, which holds gay sex as an offence in India, up to the wisdom of the Supreme Court which is now reviewing its own earlier verdict on the issue, media reports said.
The Supreme Court is presently hearing the pleas against the section 377.
In 2013, the top court had upheld gay-sex as an offence and did not consider the LGBT community as a sizeable part of the Indian population.
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra-headed five judge bench, which comprises R.F. Nariman, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y.Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, is hearing the case.
On Monday, the top court had rejected the Centre's plea to defer the hearing by four weeks.
The Supreme Court bench said it would examine the "correctness" of its 2013 verdict that left India's rights groups and LGBTQ people heart broken as it reversed the Delhi High Court ruling that read down the British era law.
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