Gay sex verdict: Rajnath Singh backs SC, says BJP cannot justify unnatural acts
Ravish Tiwari Posted online: Sun Dec 15 2013, 01:51 hrs
New Delhi : Ending the BJP’s silence over the Supreme Court’s much-criticised verdict to once again criminalise gay sex, party president Rajnath Singh Saturday said the BJP was with the apex court on this as it could not justify “unnatural acts”.
“We usually honour Supreme Court judgments. How can anyone justify unnatural acts?” Singh told The Sunday Express when asked about the BJP position on this widely debated issue.
Although Singh did not speak at length on the subject, his comment is the first to clearly indicate the party’s position since the SC ruling.
The BJP’s leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, had sidestepped the issue saying the party would outline its position only after seeing the government’s response to the SC suggestion that Parliament could change the law governing gay sex.
She had also suggested the government convene an all-party meeting to build consensus before changing the law.
The BJP has not discussed the SC ruling internally and Rajnath’s public support to the apex court is expected to spur a debate in the party.
An influential section in the BJP had indicated that the party may not be averse to amending Section 377 of the IPC to legalise gay sex provided the government took the initiative.
But with Rajnath backing the SC, the party would have to stand by him as the party president’s view is the party’s position, BJP leaders said
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/1207820/