Law minister praises gay ruling amid religious protests

In what may have church leaders and representatives of faith based organisations see red, law minister Veerappa Moily praised the Delhi High Court order decriminalising homosexuality and said it was "well-documented and well-argued".

Leaving no doubt that the government is positive with the HC order, Moily said, "this is one judgement, which has really stood out in the judicial annals of this country."

Expressing his views in an interview with a news channel, the law minister stated that if the apex court upholds the high court ruling, then the government might only amend section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to make it a law.

"It is an important question of law â€" particularly relating to the constitutional provision of liberty and privacy. As against that, obtaining a stay may be sometimes preposterous, unless we have a final verdict from the Supreme Court," the minister said when questioned why the government did not seek a stay on the ruling.

Moily admitted that anti-gay law had been misused in the past. "If it has been misused earlier, it can be misused in future as well. Any law should not be used as an instrument of exploitation, harassment or allow the authority to misuse it. This is one such provision that has a tendency of misuse and exploitation, and has been misused," he said.

Whatsoever, religious leaders still are strongly opposed to the High Court order July 2 that permitted homosexual sex between consenting adults.

Rev. Richard Howell, general secretary of Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), earlier said he was "shocked and saddened by the judgment" that has struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that made homosexuality "illegal" since 1860.

"In a secular state a distinction is made between God's unchanging moral laws and man's legislated social laws - civil and criminal. Decriminalization of homosexuality in no way changes the moral order. It is common sense to recognize that homosexual practice is a violation of the natural order," he said in a statement.

The Catholic Church has also made a foursquare refusal to the gay judgement.

"Giving the impression that homosexuality is moral will bring in sexual anarchy including child abuse in society. The Indian culture which is founded on self-discipline and asceticism should not be allowed to disintegrate by opening the doors to sexual licentiousness which is already rampant in our consumer culture," Cardinal Vithayathil, president of the CBCI, warned