India's supreme court has struck down a law from the colonial era that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The court accepted a petition filed by five people who claimed they are living in fear of being harassed and prosecuted by police.

In 2009, a New Delhi High Court declared unconstitutional section 377 of the law, which says sex between members of the same gender is against the order of nature.

But the judgment was overturned by the Supreme Court which said amending or repealing the law should be left to Parliament.

However, the government left it to the court to decide the validity of the law dealing with consensual sexual acts between two adults, and judges ruled that the law should be reversed.