Hearing the same-sex marriage matter, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud asked on Thursday if the existence of two spouses, who belong to a binary gender is a necessary requirement for marriage.
“It requires us to redefine the evolving notion of marriage. Because is the existence of two spouses who belong to a binary gender a necessary requirement for marriage?” CJI Chandrachud said.
Today is the third day of the hearing by a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage in India.
The CJI later said, “What happens when there is a heterosexual couple when there is domestic violence…what kind of impact on children…so much for being heterosexual..what about father coming back home drunk thrashing up the mother and asking money for alcohol? There is nothing absolute…at the cost of being trolled…answers to what we say in court is in trolls and not in court.”
Key Takeaways
— The CJI stated that by decriminalizing homosexuality, the Supreme Court not only recognized relationships between consenting adults of the same gender but also acknowledged that homosexual relationships are not just physical but also emotional, stable relationships. He said, “The moment we have said that it’s no longer an offense under Section 377, therefore we necessarily contemplate that you could have stable marriage-like relationships between two persons who do not treat these as chance encounters but something more than that, which is not just physical relations but something more of a stable emotional relationship, which is an incident of our constitutional interpretation.”
— The CJI also said that the court has already reached the intermediate stage, which contemplates that people belonging to the same sex can be in “stable marriage-like relationships.”
— Additionally, the CJI said that the requirement under the SMA (Special Marriage Act), which requires parties to give notice of their “intended marriage,” has the potential to disproportionately affect the most vulnerable segments of society, including marginalized communities or minorities.
— Finally, the CJI stated that the bench would hear the matter on a daily basis, similar to the Ayodhya hearing.
From Wednesday’s Hearing
The top court on Wednesday emphasised on the need to finish the matter in a time-bound manner, saying there are other cases waiting to be heard. The petitioners want the Special Marriage Act of 1954 to redefine marriage as between “spouse” rather than “man and woman.”
During the yesterday’s hearing, the petitioners seeking legal validation for same-sex marriage urged the apex court to use its “plenary power, prestige and moral authority” to push the society to acknowledge such a union as would ensure LGBTQIA persons lead a “dignified” life like heterosexuals.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for one of the petitioners, had said the State should come forward and provide recognition to same-sex marriage.
Earlier yesterday, the Centre urged the apex court that all states and Union Territories be made parties to the proceedings, saying any decision on the issue without obtaining their view will render the present “adversarial exercise” incomplete and truncated.
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