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Informist, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025

--SC junks review pleas against 2023 order on same-sex marriage 

--CONTEXT: In 2023, SC had refused to give recognition to same-sex marriage 

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed review petitions filed against its October 2023 judgment, wherein it had refused to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriage. The top court said it had gone through the judgments delivered in the case by a five-judge Constitution bench in 2023.

 

"We do not find any error apparent on the face of the record. We further find that the view expressed in both the judgments is in accordance with law, and as such, no interference is warranted. Accordingly, the review petitions are dismissed," said the apex court. The bench of Justices B.R. Gavai, Surya Kant, B.V. Nagarathna, P.S. Narasimha and Dipankar Datta was hearing the review petitions.

 

In its ruling on Oct. 17, 2023, a five-judge bench of the top court had observed that the the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer community faced discrimination from the state, but declined to get into judicial lawmaking on same-sex marriage and held that the law does not recognise the right for such couples to marry or have a civil union. It is, therefore, for Parliament to make laws to enable the same, the five-judge Constitution bench had ruled.

 

One of the arguments made by petitioners seeking legal validity of same-sex marriage revolved around the interpretation of the Special Marriage Act, 1954. Section 4 of the Special Marriage Act says marriage should be between two 'persons'. The petitioners had asked the court to interpret 'persons' as anyone, including the LGBTQ community. However, the government had opposed any such interpretation, and said the law was only meant for a man and a woman. The top court had agreed with the government's interpretation. 

 

In 2023, Justice Ravinder Bhat, along with Justices Hima Kohli and P.S. Narasimha, in their majority ruling, had held that queer couples cannot claim a right to recognition of their union in the absence of a statutory enactment. Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, in their minority opinion, held that queer couples have a fundamental right to seek recognition for their union, but refrained from suggesting that the Special Marriage Act should be struck down for not recognising same-sex marriages.

 

The review petitioners Supriya Chakraborty, Udit Sood and others, who were also the original petitioners in the case, had said that the apex court's 2023 judgement was an "error apparent on the face of the record", besides being "manifestly unjust" and "self-contradictory". The petitioners had said that the court, despite acknowledging the discrimination faced by queer couples, failed to provide meaningful relief. The majority judgment's refusal to protect civil unions or grant adoption rights amounted to a denial of justice for queer individuals, the petitioners had said.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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