Challenge to gay sex law: Judgment to be given later
A LAWYER is challenging a law which criminalises gay sex, arguing that Section 377A violates the constitutional rights of homosexual men.
It is Mr M. Ravi's third attempt after similar appeals before a High Court assistant registrar and Justice Lai Siu Chiu failed earlier this year.
He is pegging his bid to a case he handled - that of Tan Eng Hong, 48, who was initially charged under 377A with performing fellatio on another man in a public toilet at CityLink Mall in March last year.
When Mr Ravi filed a constitutional challenge then, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) replaced the charge with one of committing an obscene act in public.
Tan was convicted under that and fined $3,000, as was his partner, Chin Chee Shyong, 41. Tan was then unemployed, and Chin, an operations clerk.
Yesterday, Mr Ravi asked the Court of Appeal to overturn Justice Lai's decision and allow the constitutional challenge to be heard. He said that although Parliament has said gay men will not be prosecuted for sexual acts in private, the very existence of the law means they face the possible threat of prosecution.
He added that it is discriminatory that gay sex in public places can bring a jail term of up to two years, while sex between a man and a woman in public can result in a three-month jail term at most.
No similar law criminalises sex acts between lesbians, Mr Ravi added.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Aedit Abdullah, arguing that there was no necessity for the constitutional challenge, said Tan had already pleaded guilty to committing an obscene act in a public place.
Since he was not prosecuted under 377A, Mr Ravi had no standing to argue that his client's constitutional rights were being violated by that particular law, the DPP said.
He told Appeal Judges Andrew Phang and V. K. Rajah and Justice Judith Prakash, however, that the AGC could not give a 'binding promise' that gay men would not be prosecuted under 377A.
The public gallery was packed with more than 30 people and a dozen lawyers.
Judgment will be delivered later.
KHUSHWANT SINGH
