The Centre has filed a fresh application before the Supreme Court on the issue pertaining to the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in the country and raised the question of the maintainability of the petitions as a preliminary issue. The prayers made would entail the judicial creation of a social institution called “marriage” of a different kind than contemplated under the existing law, Centre stated in its application, reported ANI.
Any further creation of rights, recognition of relationships and giving legal sanctity to such relationships can be done only by the competent legislature and not by judicial adjudication, it added.
The Centre also said that the petitions have “far-reaching implications” and that the petitioners seeking recognition of same-sex marriage “do not represent the view of the entire population of the nation.”
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“Petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage merely reflect urban elitist views and cannot be compared with the appropriate legislature which reflects the views and voices of a far wider spectrum and expands across the country,” the Centre said.
A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court will hear a batch of petitions seeking legal validation of same-sex marriage in the country.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices S K Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, P S Narasimha and Hima Kohli will commence the hearing on April 18 on the petitions which were referred to a larger bench for an authoritative pronouncement on March 13 by the CJI-led bench, saying it is “very seminal issue”.
The Centre has opposed the petitions seeking legal validation for same-sex marriages, claiming they will cause “complete havoc” with the delicate balance of personal laws and accepted societal values.
The government submitted that despite the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the IPC, which had criminalised consensual gay sex in private, the petitioners cannot claim a fundamental right to same-sex marriage to be recognised under the laws of the country.