Supreme Court Issues Notice On Same Sex Marriage, Read Here

On petitions submitted by Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang, as well as Parth Phiroze Mehrotra and Uday Raj Anand, a two-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud issued the notice.

In response to a petition filed by two gay couples seeking recognition of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act of 1954, the Supreme Court on Friday served notice on the Centre and the Attorney General of India.

Indian Supreme Court On Same Sex Marriage

The bench, which included Justice Hima Kohli as well, noted at the outset that related petitions were still pending before the Delhi and Kerala High Courts.

Senior Attorney Neeraj Kishan Kaul, who is representing the petitioners, stated that the Centre has made a declaration in the Kerala High Court that it would take action to have the case transferred to the Supreme Court. He stated that the case before the Delhi High Court has been on hold for two years. These are important constitutional rights, Kaul declared.

Additionally representing the petitioners was senior attorney Mukul Rohatgi, who stated that "ultimately this is a sequel to the judgement in Navtej Singh Johar (where the court decriminalised same-sex relations and Puttaswamy (privacy judgment). These are live issues, not property issues. People are living, they are getting older and older. The impact is on succession, health…how it will work”.

"A myriad of concerns arise by virtue of this," the senior lawyer added. “And we have taken care not to touch matters of marriage which deal with religion, like the Hindu Marriage Act. The Special Marriage Act is the only topic under discussion. The Act starts by saying that you can marry between two persons,” Rohatgi said.

The Act also states that "the male has completed the age of twenty-one years and the female eighteen years," Justice Chandrachud said.

Rohatagi stated, “But it does not say it should be a union of A and B… that’s a matter of interpretation. It’s too important a matter affecting the whole nation… It’s too important a matter, which should not be further delayed by the examination by the High Courts.”

According to Kaul, the problem also impacts the petitioners' rights to surrogacy and adoption. “…today, we are looking at a case where apart from Constitutional right, every facet of our existence is affected,” he said.

In response to a question from the bench regarding the arguments made before the Kerala High Court, Kaul noted that the purpose of the arguments was to declare the Act's provisions, which forbid marriages between same-sex partners, unconstitutional and invalid, as well as to declare that homosexual couples are permitted to solemnise and register their marriages under the Act.

In their petition, Chakraborty and Dang stated that they have been together for almost ten years and held a commitment ceremony in December 2021 at which their families, friends, and parents blessed them.

According to Mehrotra and Anand, they have been together for the past 17 years and are parents to two kids. They emphasised that because they cannot officially solemnise their marriage, they cannot have a formal parent-child relationship with the children.

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