In September 2006, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, acclaimed writer Vikram Seth and other prominent Indians publicly demanded the repeal of section 377 of the IPC. The open letter demanded that "In the name of humanity and of our Constitution, this cruel and discriminatory law should be struck down." On 30 June 2008, Indian Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes backed calls for decriminalisation of consensual gay sex, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for greater tolerance towards homosexuals. On 23 July 2008, Bombay High Court Judge Bilal Nazki said that India's unnatural sex law should be reviewed. The Law Commission of India had historically favoured the retention of this section in its 42nd and 156th report, but in its 172nd report, delivered in 2000, it recommended its repeal.