In a human rights case brought by gay rights group Naz Foundation, the Supreme Court of India has ordered the government to file a brief within four weeks outlining the legal basis for criminalising gay sex and ordered a hearing for November 27, according to a gay news site.

At the hearing on Monday, Additional Solicitor General K K Sud told the court and its three justices: "We have to take into consideration the morality in society as a whole, and such a relationship is not accepted in our country.

"Even in western countries, which have taken liberal steps towards this, the people having such relationships are looked down upon," said Sud.

The justices however said the issue could not be dealt with solely on the grounds of social morality.

"As far as society is concerned, before 1956 polygamy was an accepted practice, but it had been stopped after the Hindu Marriage Act was passed to ban it," said the court in New Delhi.

"If two people of the same sex want to live together, it may be their own thinking."

The Naz Foundation filed a petition challenging the sodomy laws in December last year after some of its members were harassed by police for handing out brochures promoting sexual health among MSM (men who have sex with men) in northern India.

People convicted of having sex with a person of the same gender can be jailed for up to ten years under current Indian law. The Indian law on homosexuality was enacted by British colonial rulers in 1860 and prescribes up to 10 years' imprisonment, a fine, or both for anyone found guilty of "carnal intercourse against order of nature." England has since repealed Section 377 which prohibits gay sex in 1967.