'Marriage Only Valid Between A Biological Man & Woman': Centre To HC

The Delhi HC is due to hear five petitions seeking legalization of same sex marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act (SMA), and Foreign Marriage Act (FMA).

HC to hear plea on November 30

New Delhi: The Centre in a statement submitted to the Delhi HC has stated that only a marriage between "a biological man and a biological woman" is valid under the current law.

The Delhi HC is due to hear five petitions seeking legalisation of same-sex marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act (SMA), and Foreign Marriage Act (FMA).

“The law as it stands...personal laws are settled and marriage which is contemplated to be is between a biological man and biological woman,” said the statement submitted by the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, before the bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh., according to a report by Bra and Bench.

The Solicitor General of India inferred that it is up to the Court to decide if same-sex marriage is valid under the law or not.

“The issue here is whether marriage is permissible between homosexual couples. Your lordships have to see that. There is some misconception regarding the Navtej Singh Johar case. It merely decriminalizes consensual homosexual acts. It does not talk about marriage,” Mehta said in his statement. 

Meanwhile, the petition filed by Raghav Awasthi and Mukesh Sharma stated, “In this view of the matter, it can be stated that it is against the constitutional mandate of non-arbitrariness if the said right is not extended to homosexual apart from heterosexual couples.” 

Awasthi and Sharma got married in the USA in 2017, and could not get their marriage registered under FMA by the Indian Consulate. The couple is being represented by senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy and lawyers Arundhati Katju, Govind Manoharan, and Surabhi Dhar. 

The other two women aged 47 and 36 years, also being represented by the same lawyers, have contended that due to their marriage not being registered, they are being denied several rights like owning a house or family life insurance which opposite-sex couples get.

Another petitioner couple OCI cardholder Parag Vijay Mehta and Indian citizen Vaibhav Jain, share a similar story to Sharma and Awasthi.

The center has opposed same-sex marriage on the grounds that judicial interference may lead “complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws."

The HC has set November 30 for the next hearing, "In the meantime, if anyone wants to file a reply or rejoinder they may do so," said Chief Justice Patel.