Indian Government Asks Supreme Court to Review Sodomy Law Ruling

Reinstated ban on gay sex

NEW DELHI—The Indian government Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court, asking it to review its decision to make gay sex illegal in this country.

"The government has filed the review petition on Section 377 in the Supreme Court today. Let's hope the right to personal choices is preserved," Indian Law Minister Kapil Sibal tweeted.

The apex court had on Dec. 11 reinstated a 153-year-old law—Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code—which criminalises homosexuality, overturning a landmark ruling of the Delhi High Court decriminalizing gay sex more than four years back.