Never said govt would scrap Section 377

A day after reports quoted DV Sadananda Gowda as indicating that India could abolish Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code decriminalising ‘unnatural sex’, the Union Law Minister on Tuesday denied making any such remarks.“I never said that, I was misquoted,” Gowda told reporters today after he was asked for a reaction on his statement that Section 377 maybe scrapped.

“The topic was on USA legalising same-sex marriage. I just said that such decisions would need wide discussions in India,” Gowda clarified.

Reports had quoted Gowda as saying that the decision on scrapping Section 377 will, however, be taken after widespread consultations and taking all views into account.

Gowda’s reported statement yesterday had come after US Supreme Court’s historic decision last week declaring same-sex marriages legal.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has defended Gowda stating he was likely misquoted.

“I think the Law Minister was misquoted. Our party position has been that homosexuality is a genetic disorder,” Swamy said.