The Supreme Court said it is a "seminal issue" and an "important subject" and submitted a number of petitions for same-sex marriage legal recognition to a five-judge constitution bench for decision. Notwithstanding the Centre's contention that Parliament alone should decide on the issue whose complexities could affect "how our society develops henceforth," the SC took the action.
A bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala decided to invoke the apex court’s powers under Article 145(3) to directly refer the issue to a five judge bench on finding the petitions demanding legalisation of same-sex marriage had raised important constitutional questions. The hearings will commence from April 18.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged people not to shortchange anyone's arguments as the petitioners' attorneys presented a 32-hour argument timetable, or a little over two weeks. The entire society will be impacted by this problem. Please include the full scope of the problem. The SC has the enormous burden of determining how society will progress moving forward. It will need to be done in a few days or weeks, not just a few hours.
The Navtej Johar judgment decriminalised same-gender sexual relations, but the much-discriminated LGBTQ members of these communities have not reaped the benefits of legalising the right to love a person of any gender without also receiving the corollary "right to marriage" as part of their right to dignity, claimed a group of senior advocates led by N K Kaul, A M Singhvi, and Menaka Guruswamy.