The Center is challenging the maintainability petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court will today deliver its long-awaited ruling on petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
A five-judge bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narishma emphasized that only the legal aspect of the Special Marriage Act and the Foreign Marriage Act was considered and that non-heterosexuals were not were recognised. marriages
The government has consistently opposed the recognition of same-sex marriage, calling it an urban elitist concept and stating that it is up to parliament to decide and debate the issue.
A five-judge Constitutional Bench led by CJI Chandrachud reserved its judgment on the petitions for legal recognition of same-sex marriage on May 11, after a 10-day marathon hearing.
The Center is challenging the maintainability of over 21 petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage, arguing that the courts do not have the power to establish or recognize marriages through legal interpretation or amendments to the law.
The court has already made it clear that it does not concern personal laws, such as the Hindu Marriage Act, and is limited only to the Special Marriage Act.
“Sometimes incremental changes on issues with social consequences are better. There is time for everything,” said Justice Sanjay Kaul.
The Center had argued that marriage was an exclusively heterosexual institution and that those seeking marriage equality were urban elites. The Supreme Court strongly objected to this argument, questioning on what basis this was made without any data. Senior advocate KV Vishwanathan then presented the case of his client, a transgender who was ostracized and begged on the streets, seeking recognition of same-sex marriages.
The Center through Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta had argued that biological sex defined a person’s gender, which was disputed by CJI Chandrachud.
“There is no absolute concept of a man or an absolute concept of a woman at all. It’s not a question of what your genitals are. It’s much more complex, that’s the point. So even if the Special Marriage Act says that man and woman idea of a man and a woman is not absolutely based on private parts,” the CJI said.
The Bar Association of India had asked the Supreme Court to leave the issue to Parliament, saying that “99% of people” were against same-sex marriages.
During the course of the hearing, the Center agreed that a committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary would examine whether legal rights could be granted to same-sex couples without legal recognition of their relationship as marriage. The Supreme Court had wanted executive directives to be issued to same-sex couples to enable them to have financial security such as opening joint bank accounts as spouses, provident funds, etc.
