NEW DELHI: India's top court on Friday transferred to itself all petitions pending before different High Courts seeking legal recognition for same-sex marriages.
A bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala has transferred all petitions pending on the issue before different High Courts including Delhi, Kerala, and Gujarat.
The Supreme Court will now hear the petitions on Marth 13 and asked the Centre to file its response by February 15. The petitions seeking recognition of same-sex marriage have been filed under various acts including the Special Marriage Act, Foreign Marriage Act and Hindu Marriage Act.
The apex court opined that multiple petitions are pending before diverse High Courts involving similar issues and should be transferred to and decided by the Apex Court. However, the court has granted liberty to petitioners to argue before the court virtually.
The court has appointed nodal counsels on behalf of both sides to assist the court. The CJI suggested the Solicitor General and the petitioners' counsels discuss and identify the issues to be argued. The CJI also said that lead counsels can be decided by the petitioners to ensure there is no repetition.
Ahead of the hearing, on Friday an organisation called the United Hindu Front protested against the top court's decision to consider pleas seeking relief. The organisation claimed homosexuality is against Indian culture and demanded the court to not hear the pleas.
On November 25, the Supreme Court had sought the Centre’s response in pleas seeking the solemnisation of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
The court agreed to hear two pleas: one filed by a gay couple from Hyderabad who have been in a relationship for almost ten years and another filed by a couple who have been in a relationship for the last 17 years and have been raising two children together. In the other plea, it was submitted that the right to marry a person of one’s choice is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution.
In 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by the current CJI struck down a part of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalised consensual gay sex as "irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary."
The court had said the 158-year-old British-era law had become an "odious weapon" to harass the LGBT community by subjecting them to discrimination and unequal treatment.