The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a batch of pleas seeking a review of its October 2023 verdict declining legal sanction to same-sex marriage. In a chamber hearing, the top court rejected the pleas.
"Application(s) for listing review petition(s) in open court is rejected. We have carefully gone through the judgments delivered by Justice S. Ravindra Bhat (former judge) speaking for himself and for Justice Hima Kohli (former judge) as well as the concurring opinion expressed by one of us (Justice P S Narasimha), constituting the majority view," a bench of Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, B V Nagarathna, P S Narasimha and Justice Dipankar Datta said.
The top court said it did not find any error apparent on the face of the record in its previous decision. "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," the apex court said.
After not finding any merit in the pleas, the apex court said, "No interference is warranted. Accordingly, the review petitions are dismissed."
The review petitions were heard in a chamber without the presence of any party -- whether petitioner, respondent or lawyer. The top court had earlier refused to allow an open-court hearing on the review pleas.
The new bench was constituted after Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the present CJI, recused from hearing the review petitions on July 10, 2024.
Justice P S Narasimha was the only member of the bench who was also on the original Constitution bench comprising five judges which delivered the verdict, as former CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices S K Kaul, Ravindra Bhat and Hima Kohli have retired.
In a landmark judgement on October 17, 2023, the Supreme Court had declined to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages.
"It is only for the Parliament and state legislatures to create such institutions and grant them legal validation. Role of legislature has been to act as a codifier of customs and wherever necessary intervene in furtherance of Article 14 and 15(3) to enact laws," the apex court had said in its verdict.
The Supreme Court was also unanimous in its judgement that it was beyond their purview to issue a positive direction and/or order to the legislature to accord legal recognition to same-sex marriage
The judges, in their October 2023 verdict, were also unanimous in giving the go-ahead to a high-powered committee proposed by the Centre to examine the concerns of same-sex couples and moot corrective measures.