Supreme Court to constitute a committee for same-sex marriage couples

The hearing has started in the Supreme Court on a petition related to gay marriage. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that a panel would be constituted to look into the problems faced by same-sex couples. This panel will be constituted under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary.

Mehta has also asked the petitioner to give suggestions. He said that the petitioners can give their suggestions so that the committee can take note of it.

Earlier, the issue of same-sex marriage was heard in the Supreme Court on 25 April. During this, a five-member bench of the apex court made an important comment. The top court had said that legalizing same-sex marriage is not as easy as it looks. Parliament unquestionably has the legislative power to legislate on this issue. In such a situation, we have to consider how far we can go in this direction.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud observed that if same-sex marriage is permitted, its judicial interpretation, keeping in view its consequential aspects, is not limited to the Special Marriage Act, 1954 Will remain Personal laws will also come into play under its ambit. The bench said that initially we were of the view that we will not touch personal law on this issue, but it is not an easy task to recognize same-sex marriage without making changes in personal law.

The petitioners seeking legal approval for same-sex marriage presented their arguments during the hearing in the Supreme Court. Urging to recognize the right to same-sex marriage, he told the bench that the court cannot walk away by saying that it cannot do anything on the issue. They should be given some relief.

Not giving legal sanction to gay marriage would be open discrimination against a person on the basis of sex. Not only this, it will force such persons to move to other countries where same-sex marriage is legal. Kirpal, appearing for the petitioners, told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that LGBTQIA+ would affect seven percent of India’s GDP.

During the fourth day of hearing in the case, Kirpal said that not recognizing same-sex marriage would lead to a situation where gays and lesbians would be unwillingly bound into an unviable marriage. He said that the LGBTQIA+ community cannot be left at the mercy of Parliament.