CHENNAI: Shouldn't the LGBT lesbians , gays, bisexuals, transgender) people be accorded a special or different legal status and be recognized as a separate group for safeguard of their rights including right of privacy, the Madras high court has asked the Centre.Justice N Kirubakaran, passing orders on two matrimonial discord cases involving a gay in one case and lesbian in the other, said lack of statutory protection for LGBT people has started affecting the very social institution of marriage."When more than 30 countries, including a conservative nation like Ireland, have decriminalized homosexuality and legalized gay marriage by way of referendum, getting 62.07% votes in favour, why not India decriminalize homosexuality?" asked the court.Why not the central government amend marriage laws to include the homosexuality as valid ground for divorce, as gays and lesbians cannot exhibit interest on the opposite sex which is required for consummation of marriage, asked Justice Kirubakaran.The Centre, which was directed to file its response by July last year, is yet to file the affidavit.When sexual orientation exhibited by majority persons is accepted by all, why not the sexual orientation of a section of people be recognised (statutorily), as they have different expression of human sexuality, the judge asked.Could LGBT be considered offenders merely for having exhibited their natural sexual orientation and their sexual acts, which are different, the judge wondered.As for the cases before him, Justice Kirubakaran said he was shocked to notice non-consummation of marriages because either of the spouses was either “gay” or “lesbian”.Taking judicial note of wide prevalence of same sex relationships in the country, and the adverse impact it had on families, the judge impleaded the Union ministries of law and justice, and family welfare as parties to the proceedings. By a separate order, he also made the law commission of India also a party to the case.He asked if the Centre had carried out any survey or scientific study to find out the number of gay and lesbian population in the country. If there was one, what was their (LGPT people’s) number, and if not, when the government would conduct such a survey, Justice Kirubakaran asked.The judge also sought to know whether the central government had taken any decision with regard to deletion of Section 377 of IPC from the statute book, as suggested by the Supreme Court in the Suresh Kumar Koushal vs NAZ Foundation case, or whether it proposed to amend Section 377 of the IPC by introducing a provision to clarify that nothing contained in the clause should apply to any sexual activity between two consenting adults in private as per the Delhi high court judgement of 2009.