Introduced
by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Lok Sabha on Friday rejected a Private
Members’ Bill seeking to decriminalize homosexuality.
The
Bill sought amendment to the IPC by advocating that the Section 377 of the IPC
should be substituted.
BJP member
Nishikant Dubey objected to it, saying he was not opposing it under the
influence of any religion, vedas or ‘puranas’ but because of the Supreme Court
ruling. In December 2013, the Supreme Court reversed a Delhi High Court verdict
that had asked the government to take a view on decriminalizing homosexuality
as in 2009 it had termed Section 377 unconstitutional.
Mr. Tharoor,
however, went ahead introducing the Bill saying Mr. Dubey cherry picked some
elements of the Supreme Court ruling.
Mr.
Tharoor was supported by BJD’s Tathagata Satpathy. But to take the majority of
the House in confidence Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai put the motion to vote,
which was negated by 71 ‘Noes’ against 24 ‘yes.’
Mr Tharoor
wrote on the Quint website that "it is time to bring the Indian
Penal Code into the 21st century".
In deeply
conservative India, homosexuality is a taboo and many people still regard
same-sex relationships as illegitimate. According to
the 153-year-old colonial-era law, a same-sex relationship is an
"unnatural offence" and punishable by a 10-year jail term.