NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will hear on January 6 batch of pleas pending in high courts of
Delhi and Kerala seeking recognition of same-sex marriage in India. On Tuesday, the transfer pleas were mentioned by Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy and Advocate Karuna Nundy. “This is a matter that concerns same-sex and queer marriages. There are similar matters pending in Delhi and Kerala high courts. Hence this transfer petition,” Advocate Nundy said.
Considering counsel’s submissions, the CJI said that the transfer pleas will be listed along with other pleas on Friday. On December 14, the SC had issued notice on two pleas seeking transfer of petitions pending in the Delhi HC. The notice was issued in the pleas filed by Kavita Arora and Nibedita Dutta.
On November 25, the SC had sought Centre’s response in pleas seeking solemnisation of same sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli agreed to hear two pleas filed by a gay couple from Hyderabad who have been in a relationship for almost ten years and plea of another 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.
Also in top court
Hooch deaths: Hearing on SIT probe on Jan 9
The SC will hear on January 9 plea seeking SIT probe into Bihar Hooch tragedy that had claimed at least 70 lives in Saran district earlier this month. Advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak for Aryavarta Mahasabha Foundation on Tuesday urged bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha to list the plea. “It will come up next Monday,” CJI DY Chandrachud remarked. The plea had also sought for formulation of an action plan to curb illicit liquor.
Hearing on Bhatt plea on January 10
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will consider on January 10 the petition filed by sacked Gujarat cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeking to bring in additional evidence in an appeal filed by him in the Gujarat High Court. Bhatt has filed an appeal in the HC challenging his conviction in a 1990 custodial death case.
CBI asked to reply in 1984 riots case
The SC on Tuesday sought a response from the CBI to the bail plea of former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on several grounds including having already served almost nine years in jail. Former Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar Mahender Yadav are serving jail sentences.
All conversions not illegal, says SC & refuses to stay mp hc order
New Delhi: All conversions cannot be said to be illegal, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while agreeing to hear the Madhya Pradesh government’s plea challenging a high court order restraining it from prosecuting interfaith couples who get married without informing the district magistrate. A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar issued notice in the matter and posted the matter for further hearing on February 7. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought a stay on the high court order but the apex court refused to pass any direction. Mehta said that marriage is used for illegal conversions and “we cannot turn a blind eye” to this. The high court, in an interim order, had directed the Madhya Pradesh government not to prosecute under Section 10 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act (MPFRA) adults who solemnise their marriage on their own volition.