- By Kamal Kumar
- Thu, 23 Nov 2023 03:55 PM (IST)
- Source:ANI
Same-Sex Marriage Row: Supreme Court of India on Thursday fixed November 28 to take up the review petition filed against its earlier decision of declining marriage rights to the queer community in India. The court's observation came after the counsel for petitioners, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, on Thursday, presented a plea to hear the review petition before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
The senior advocate requested a public court hearing regarding the review petition, informing the court that all judges agree on the existence of discrimination. He also emphasised the need for a remedy. He informed the court that the matter was scheduled to be listed on November 28 and requested it not be removed from the agenda.
Chief Justice while paying heed to the words of the senior counsel said that the court, although it has not gone through the content of the petition, will look into it. Several review petitions have been submitted to the Supreme Court contesting its recent decision denying marriage equality rights to queer couples.
Who has filed review petitions?
Among these petitions, one has been filed by advocates Karuna Nundy and Ruchira Goel. This particular petition aims to revisit the majority judgment issued on October 17 by the Supreme Court, which dismissed a series of petitions advocating for the legal acknowledgement of same-sex and queer marriages under acts such as the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA), Foreign Marriage Act, 1969 (FMA), Citizenship Act, 1955, common law, and other relevant existing legislation.
What the top court has promulgated?
Earlier, the Supreme Court ruled that there is no inherent right to marriage and specified that transgender people possess the right to come into heterosexual marriages under the existing provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020.
The judgment further stated that the legal recognition of a union, similar to marriage or civil union, or granting legal status to the parties involved, can only be achieved through enacted law. It emphasised that the court cannot mandate or instruct the establishment of such a regulatory framework leading to legal status. Furthermore, the majority ruling declined to grant adoption rights to same-sex couples, citing that Regulation 5(3) of the CARA Regulations cannot be declared void.
Who Gave The Ruling?
The top court delivered four separate judgements on October 17. The majority judgement was delivered by justices SR Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha, whereas, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice SK Kaul have delivered minority judgements.