Centre leaves it to the wisdom of SC to decide on validity of Section 377

The Centre today left it to the wisdom of the Supreme Court to test the constitutional validity of section 377 of the IPC which criminalises "consensual acts of adults in private", but urged it not to deal with issues like gay marriages, adoption and ancillary civil rights of LGBTQ.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which is hearing a clutch of petitions seeking de-criminalisation of the 158-year-old colonial law, told the Centre that it was not "considering all these issues".

"We are not considering all these issues. One cannot judge these issues in vacuum ... we will not give any ruling on the corollary rights of LGBTQ community, relating to their marriage or other ancillary civil rights," the bench, which also comprised Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, said.

Justice Chandrachud also observed that "We do not want a situation where two homosexuals enjoying a walk on the Marine Drive (in Mumbai) should be disturbed by the police and charged under section 377."