July 2, 2009 7:32 AM
- Text
India Legalizes Gay Sex In Capital City
(AP)
A court in India has made a groundbreaking ruling to decriminalize consensual gay sex in the capital of the deeply conservative society.
The Delhi High Court ruling, the first of its kind, applies only in New Delhi. The ruling says that treating consensual gay sex as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by the constitution.
Anjali Gopalan, head of a foundation that filed a petition prompting the ruling, says that India is finally entering the 21st century
Sex between people of the same gender has been illegal in India since British colonial times and can be punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The court's verdict can be challenged in India's Supreme Court.
The Delhi High Court ruling, the first of its kind, applies only in New Delhi. The ruling says that treating consensual gay sex as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by the constitution.
Anjali Gopalan, head of a foundation that filed a petition prompting the ruling, says that India is finally entering the 21st century
Sex between people of the same gender has been illegal in India since British colonial times and can be punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The court's verdict can be challenged in India's Supreme Court.
Popular Now in World
- Pakistani fishermen reel in 40-foot whale shark
- Iran: We can attack U.S. interests "anywhere"
- Syria rebels bloodied, battered, but defiant
- "Voluptuous" Ukrainian nurse abandons Qaddafi
- Girl with Two Heads Born in Philippines
- Booze and bikinis in a new Egypt
- Cockpit error sent 737 into Pacific nose dive
- 23 women convicted of child pornography in Sweden
- Israel To U.S.: Don't Delay Iraq Attack
- Syria's Christians stand by Assad
- Stephen Hawking: Heaven is "a fairy story"
- 130 Doctors Without Borders staff go missing
- GlobalPost: Qaddafi apparently sodomized
- Greek Cruise Ship Sinks
- Costa Concordia wreck seen from space
- Iran helping al Qaeda? War "hysteria" builds
- Report: U.S. to slash Iraq Embassy staff
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- 2nd deposition sought for convicted Ponzi schemer
- GM gets environmental OK for new China plant
- German Parliament likely to vote on Greece Feb. 27
- France's Total gets oil price profit boost
on Facebook
- Tenn. father charged with murdering couple who"unfriended" daughter on Facebook
- Adele opens up about vocal cord surgery
- "Person to Person" with George Clooney
on CBS News






