The Union Law Secretary has told the government that it’s difficult to find any lacunae in the judgment of the Delhi High Court which struck down provisions in Section 377 of the IPC that criminalised homosexuality.

This comes when the Centre has sought time from the Supreme Court to formulate its stand on the issue. On Tuesday, it told the court it did not want a stay on the July 2 verdict of the Delhi High Court that legalised gay sex among consenting adults.

In his report to Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, Law Secretary T K Vishwanathan is also learnt to have said that there are no sufficient grounds on the basis of which an appeal could be maintainable in the Supreme Court. He has also suggested an innovative way out of the impasse.

The Law Secretary had been asked to submit a report at a meeting of the Union Ministers of Law, Home and Health on July 3. Moily is expected to share the Secretary’s report with the Home and Health Ministers later this month.

Vishwanathan is learnt to have recommended that a March 2000 report of the Law Commission on review of the IPC and CrPC on rape could be one answer to the government’s problem.

In this report, the Commission had recommended repealing Section 377 and making rape “gender-neutral.”

At present, only a man can be charged under the offence of rape of a woman. A male member of the society can’t levy rape allegations against anybody. This offence is dealt with the section dealing with sodomy.

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