NEW DELHI - The Indian media hailed a court ruling to decriminalize gay sex and urged the government to respond by striking a colonial-era ban on homosexuality from the statute books.

"Gay and finally legal" ran the headline of the Mail Today paper which like other dailies was awash with articles and pictures of India's largely ostracized gay and transgender communities celebrating Thursday's Delhi High Court ruling.

"Its ok to be gay" read the banner headline of the Hindustan Times while the Asian Age welcomed what it called a "Sexual Revolution in India".

Homosexuality had been illegal in India since 1860 under a statute introduced by British colonial rulers that banned "carnal intercourse against the order of nature."

Conviction carried a fine and maximum 10-year jail sentence.

The High Court ruled that the statute violated basic individual rights guaranteed by the constitution.

The Times of India, which titled its main piece "India's Gay Day", declared in its editorial that by legalizing same-sex relations, the court had "restored the personal freedom and rights of homosexuals."

Often harassed by the police, India's gay community has largely remained in the closet.

The ruling should "act as a catalyst, encouraging our legislators to shed their blinkers and take a more progressive view on the issue," the Times said in its editorial titled "Victory for Choice."

"In 21st century India, it is perverse to penalise adults for their sexual choices," it added.

Applauding the ruling, an editorial in the Indian Express urged the government to read the decision and learn from its "enlightened constitutionalism."

"Liberty is an incremental accomplishment and a grand step has just been taken," the Express said.

The Hindustan Times argued that, prior to the introduction of the 1860 statute, India had a traditionally "non-intrusive and blasé" attitude towards homosexuality.

"It took 150 years for us in India ... to figure out that we didn't have a problem with same-sex relationships," it said. “Not only does homophobia run counter to Indian mores but more importantly nobody cares much about it."