Indian Government: Sodomy Ruling OK

The government of India will not oppose a Delhi high court ruling that legalized gay sex in July, leaving it to the supreme court to determine whether the lower court ruled correctly in overturning the British colonial-era ban.

According to a cabinet note obtained by the CNN-IBN network in India, the government decided not to contest the controversial ruling, which is being challenged in supreme court by antigay opponents including a popular yoga guru who claims that gay people can be "cured."

"The correctness of the Delhi high court judgment has been challenged in an appeal before the supreme court," says the cabinet note. "The government may submit before the supreme court that there does not appear to be any legal error in the judgment and the supreme court may take a final view whether the judgment of the high court is legally correct."

Government ministers also suggested that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed with their decision not to oppose the lower court's ruling, according to CNN-IBN.

Should the supreme court uphold the lower court's groundbreaking ruling, the government will add an explanation to the sodomy law, Section 377 of the penal code, saying that it does not apply to consenting adults in private.