Singapore’s high court upheld on Monday a rarely-used law that criminalizes sex between men, dismissing three appeals that argued it was unconstitutional.

Axar.az reports citing Reuters that the ruling follows challenges to the colonial-era law by activists emboldened after India’s decision to scrap similar legislation in 2018. Previous repeal efforts in the socially-conservative city-state in 2014 also failed.

“The High Court dismisses all three applications,” Judge See Kee Oon said in a summary of the case published by the court.

“Legislation remains important in reflecting public sentiment and beliefs,” it said, adding that non-enforcement of the law against consensual male homosexual activity in private did not make it redundant.