Resolve differences on gay sex: PM

The tug-of-war between Shivraj Patil and A Ramadoss on the issue of legalising homosexuality reached the Union Cabinet with Manmohan Singh asking them to sit together and sort it out.

The tug-of-war between Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Health Minister A Ramadoss on the issue of legalising homosexuality on Thursday reached the Union Cabinet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking them to sit together and sort it out.

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"The Prime Minister has directed the two ministers to sit together and discuss the matter and sort out differences," Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

He said the cabinet deferred a decision on the issue which was being argued before the court.

The Delhi High Court is hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the legality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which bans sexual relations among the people of the same gender.

"Whatever the court decides, we will agree," Sibal said.

The court had on Wednesday pulled up the Centre for relying on religious texts to justify the prohibition on gay sex in the country and asked it to come up with scientific reports to justify it.

The issue has become controversial with Ramadoss saying that he would take up the matter with the Prime Minister after his ministry was ticked off by the Home Ministry before the court.