New Delhi: Political parties, including the ruling Congress, reacted with caution to the landmark Delhi High Court judgement Thursday de-criminalising gay sex in India.

Except for the Samajwadi Party that expressed its disapproval, all leading parties including the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said they would study the ruling before commenting on the controversial issue.

The first response from Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad after the court order Thursday morning was: "I have just heard about it, I have not gone through the judgement made by the honourable court. Unless one goes through the contents, it is not proper to comment."

The court decriminalised homosexuality among consenting adults by striking down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

A bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said that if not amended, section 377 would violate Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which states that every citizen has equal opportunity of life and is equal before law.

Section 377 is a law from the British Raj era.

Senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu told reporters at parliament: "We don't want to make any comment without going through the judgement. We don't have any proposal with regard to the changes the government wanted to bring (in the legal status of homosexuality)."

CPI-M politburo member Brinda Karat, too, said: "I am yet to study it (the judgement). We will study the ruling of the high court and then comment."

However, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh said: "I am personally not in favour of homosexuality. It is like taking undue advantage of personal freedom."

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