Supreme Court refuses to recognise same-sex marriages

Supreme Court clarifies that changing law is under Parliament’s purview and not of Court

(Credits:Live Law)

New Delhi – The Supreme Court has refused to recognise same-sex marriage. A 5-judge Constitution Bench has given this decision by a vote of 2 against 3. Chief Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud while delivering the verdict said, “Our Court cannot make law but only interpret it and give effect to it. It is for Parliament to decide whether there is a need to change the provisions of the Special Marriage Act”.

(Credits:ANI News)

The petition seeking recognition of same-sex marriage seeks to allow same-sex couples to register under the Special Marriage Act. In 20 petitions filed in the Supreme Court, the petitioners say that in 2018, the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench struck down the section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalising homosexuality.

Highlights of Chief Justice’s verdict

Homosexuality or queerness is not limited to the urban or elitist. It is not only the English-speaking man who lives in a metropolitan city with a white-collar job who can lay claim to being queer, but it can also be a woman who works in an agricultural farm. To assume that ‘queer people exist only in urban or elite spaces’ would be like erasing them.

Not all people living in urban spaces can be called ‘queer’. Queerness does not depend on one’s race or class or social and economic status. It would be incorrect to state that ‘marriage is a static and unchanging institution’. The Legislature has made many amendments to the ‘Marriage Act’ through several Acts.

Union Government ready to form a committee

After a 7-day hearing on the legalisation of same-sex marriage, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told Supreme Court that the Union Government is ready to form a committee to resolve the issues. Mehta had said that this committee would not consider the issue of legalising the marriage of same-sex couples.