New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to consider a review petition against its verdict in October that refused to recognise same-sex marriages. The Supreme Court to take up the petitions seeking a relook at the same-sex marriage judgment on November 28.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the plea before the bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra, which agreed to consider it.
Rohatgi told a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud that the review petitions should be heard in open court since the Constitution bench which delivered the verdict had denied relief despite all the judges on the bench agreeing that denial of right to marriage between persons of same gender amounted to discrimination against such persons.
“All judges agree that there is discrimination… If there is discrimination then there has to be a remedy. Lives of large number of people depend. We have urged for open court hearing. It is to be listed on November 28. We are seeking open court hearing,” he said.
The review plea was filed by Udit Sood, one of the nearly 50 petitioners who had filed the original petition seeking marriage equality for the LGBTQAI+ community in India. The review petition had argued that the majority judgement acknowledged discrimination against queer couples but “turned them away with best wishes for the future”.
It said that the ruling “suffers from errors apparent on the face of the record and is self-contradictory and manifestly unjust”.
On October 17, the Supreme Court refused to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages, saying it was up to Parliament to make laws to enable it. In a unanimous decision by the five-judge constitution bench, the bench said that there was no fundamental right to marry.
However, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul advocated for the recognition of same-sex partnerships, and also pushed for anti-discrimination laws to safeguard the rights of LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Although the top court had declined to grant legal recognition to the marriage of same-sex couples, it did uphold their right to cohabit without any threat of violence and interference, and also sought to debunk the notion that homosexuality was an urban, elite concept. The judges were split on the issue of civil unions (akin to marriage) and adoption by same-sex couples. In its 3:2 judgment, the bench ruled against both, while noting that marriage laws can’t be seen in isolation.
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