NEW DELHI — India’s law minister said today the government has not abandoned efforts to make homosexuality legal, saying the country must challenge a Supreme Court decision banning same-sex relations.

The minister, Kapil Sibal, said he is for decriminalizing homosexuality, hinting that the government could seek a judicial review of Wednesday’s court decision or that Parliament could enact a new law. The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that only lawmakers could change a colonial-era law that bans same-sex relations, making them punishable with prison time.

Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, also lent support to the activists.