New Delhi: A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court began hearing a batch of 20 petitions seeking to legalize same-sex marriage today. The Solicitor General while appearing for the Center maintained that it is not appropriate for the courts to decide on this issue. During the hearing, the SG said, “only Parliament competent is suitable to deal with the socio-legal issue of same-sex marriage”.
The Central government has opposed the petitions seeking validations for same-sex marriages, claiming that it will cause complete havoc with a delicate balance of personal laws and accepted societal values.
Earlier on Monday, the center dubbed same-sex marriage as an urban elitist concept far removed from the social ethos of India. The center said the institution of marriage between two individuals of the same gender is neither recognized nor accepted in uncodified personal laws or codified statutory laws.
The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has supported the petition saying the central and the state governments should take steps to create public awareness and that same-sex family units are normal. Actor Bobby Darling, an actor who underwent gender transformation has moved to Supreme Court seeking support for legal recognition of his same-sex marriage.
Earlier in September 2018 in a unanimous verdict, a five-judge constitution bench delivered that consensual sex among adult homosexuals or heterosexuals in private space is not a crime while striking down a part of British-era penal law that criminalized it on the ground that it violated the constitutional right to equality and dignity.