New Delhi, India (AHN) -- The New Delhi High Court on Thursday ended a British-era ban on consensual sex between two gay adults when it ruled that the prohibition violates India's constitution.

The court set the landmark ruling after finding the ban as contrary to the equal-opportunity provision of the Indian Constitution.

"It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is [the] antithesis of equality and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster the dignity of every individual," the ruling said.

Alok Gupta, a gay Mumbai-based lawyer who worked on the case, welcomed the ruling. "This is definitely going to make a huge difference," Gupta told Wsj.com. "It will give people tremendous confidence and allow people to go out and do what they are doing more openly."

The HIV-awareness organization Naz Foundation filed the suit against the anti-homosexual law in 2001. The law has been in place since 1860.

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