In a new twist to the homosexuality case, an association of the parents of LGBT people on Thursday admitted in the Supreme Court that the Delhi high court verdict on decriminalising gay sex had come only on “hypothesis” and was not based on any specific case of violation of the right to privacy of gays brought before it.
Although the association of the parents of LGBTs supported NGO NAZ Foundation on whose petition HC passed the verdict in 2009, senior advocate Fali Nariman who appeared for them said he had “no hesitation” in admitting that the HC verdict was based on “hypothesis”. Mr Nariman also admitted that NAZ had not made any plea for declaring Section 377 of IPC as “ultra vires” of the Constitution.
A bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhaya, which started hearing the arguments form the other side supporting the verdict, expressed surprise that how an issue could be decided merely on the basis of “hypothesis”.
Mr Nariman said NAZ had only raised the issue of “fear and apprehension” of violation of the right of privacy of gay community in the context of Section 377 as the NGO stated that homosexuals fear police action if they make public their sexual preferences.