Same-sex marriages: Supreme Court to hear pleas seeking legal validation

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a batch of pleas seeking legal validation for samesex marriages on MondayAccording to Mondays March 13 cause list uploaded on the apex courts website the pleas are listed for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB PardiwalaThe apex court had on January 6 clubbed and transferred to itself all such petitions pending before different high courts including the Delhi High CourtIt had said the counsel appearing for the Centre and advocate Arundhati Katju representing the petitioners shall together prepare a common compilation of the written submissions documents and precedents on which reliance would be placed during the course of the hearingSoft copies of the compilations shall be exchanged between the parties and shall be made available to the court List the petition along with connected petitions and transferred cases on March 13 2023 for directions the bench had said in its January 6 orderThe counsel for multiple petitioners had told the bench that they want the apex court to transfer all the cases to itself for an authoritative pronouncement on the issue and that the Centre can file its response in the top courtOn January 3 the apex court had said it would hear on January 6 the pleas seeking a transfer of petitions for recognition of samesex marriages pending before the high courts to the top courtAlso readLucknowbound flight makes emergency landing minutes after takeoff from BengaluruOn December 14 last year the apex court had sought the Centres response to two pleas seeking a transfer of the petitions pending in the Delhi High Court for directions to recognise samesex marriages to itselfPrior to that on November 25 last year the apex court had sought the Centres response to separate pleas moved by two gay couples seeking enforcement of their right to marry and a direction to the authorities concerned to register their marriages under the Special Marriage ActA bench headed by CJI Chandrachud who was also part of the Constitution bench that in 2018 decriminalised consensual gay sex issued a notice to the Centre in November last year besides seeking Attorney General R Venkataramanis assistance in dealing with the pleasThe top courts fivejudge Constitution bench in a pathbreaking unanimous verdict delivered on September 6 2018 held that consensual sex among adult homosexuals or heterosexuals in a private space is not a crime while striking down a part of the Britishera penal law that criminalised it on the ground that it violated the constitutional right to equality and dignityThe petitions on which the top court issued the notice in November last year have sought a direction that the right to marry a person of ones choice be extended to LGBTQ lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer people as part of their fundamental rightOne of the petitions has sought an interpretation of the Special Marriage Act 1954 in a genderneutral manner where a person is not discriminated against due to his sexual orientationThe apex court in its 2018 judgment held that section 377 of the Indian Penal Code IPC that criminalised consensual gay sex was irrational indefensible and manifestly arbitraryIt had said the 158yearold law had become an odious weapon to harass the LGBT community by subjecting its members to discrimination and unequal treatmentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever