New Delhi, Nov 26, 2022, By Special Correspondent
New Delhi, Nov 26: The Supreme Court has issued notice, returnable in four weeks, to the Centre on a petition seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli issued notice to the Centre and Attorney General on Friday on the petition while agreeing to examine the plea.
"Issue notice returnable in four weeks. Liberty to serve the central agency. Notice be also issued to the Attorney General for India as well," the bench said.
The top court also noted that various pleas relating to same-sex marriage issues are being heard in various High Courts including Kerala and Delhi.
It also noted that the Centre has made a statement before a HC that the Law Ministry was taking steps to transfer all pleas to the Supreme Court after two gay couple approached it to recognise same-sex marriage.
Appearing for one of the petitioners, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi said that they are not touching any religion and they are only seeking recognition under the Special Marriage Act.
Meanwhile, one of the petitions raised the absence of a legal framework that allowed members of the LGBTQ+ community to marry any person of their choice.
According to the petition, the couple sought to enforce the fundamental rights of LGBTQ+ individuals to marry any person of their choice and said, "the exercise of which ought to be insulated from the disdain of legislative and popular majorities."
The petitioners further asserted their fundamental right to each other and prayed for appropriate directions from this Court in doing so. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India by the petitioners and was in the interest of the LGBTQ+ community.
Both the petitioners, who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, submitted that the right to any person of one's choice is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution of India to every "person" and has been recognized explicitly by this Court.
They stressed on top court's ruling that had held that members of the LGBTQ+ community have the same human, fundamental and constitutional rights as other citizens.
However, the legal framework governing the institution of marriage in this country does not presently allow members of the LGBTQ+ community to marry the person of their choice and enforce the fundamental right which has been guaranteed to them under our Constitution.
the 158-year old law had become an "odious weapon" to harass the LGBT community by subjecting them to discrimination and unequal treatment, the apex court had noted in 2018, while holding that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, that criminalised consensual gay sex, was "irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary".