Same sex marriage to be legal in India? SC to pronounce judgement on Tuesday

New Delhi: Supreme Court is all set to pronounce its judgement on Tuesday, on whether the same-sex marriage should get legal recognition in the country or not.

A Constitution bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and comprising of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha will announce verdict in the case. The apex court had reserved the verdict on May 11, after a marathon hearing.

Top court had heard the matter after batch of pleas were filed by 18 same sex couples, seeking legal validation of the same-sex marriage.

What petitioners argued

In their pleas, the petitioners had argued that India is a ‘marriage-based culture’ and the LGBT couples should also have the same rights as any heterosexual couple.

They sought legal recognition under the Special Marriage Act for Indian partners and the Foreigners Marriage Act if one of the partners is a foreigner.

The petitioners batted for the same-sex legislation, citing international laws & conventions and also mentioned that some countries have given equal rights to the LGBT community and India mustn’t be left behind in this human index.

The petition was challenged by Centre as well as some state governments, which claimed that the sociolegal concept of “marriage” was connected to religious and cultural norms and is therefore within the domain of personal laws.

The Apex Court had said that legalizing same-sex marriage was a seminal issue and it called for wider decision by the Constitution bench of 5 judges.