New Delhi: More than 30 queer collectives of law school students from all over the country criticised the resolution issued by the Bar Council of India (BCI) urging the Supreme Court not to deal with pleas seeking the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
The students in a statement have condemned the BCI resolution calling it "antithetical" to the Constitution.
On April 23, the apex bar body expressed its concern on the same-sex marriage issue being heard in the Supreme Court, saying it would be "catastrophic" to overhaul something as fundamental as the concept of marriage and the matter should be left to the legislature.
The BCI unanimously opined that any matter which has a far-reaching impact on the country's socio-cultural and religious beliefs must come from the legislative process only.
Condemning the stand of the BCI, the LGBTQIA++ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two-spirit, asexual, and ally) collectives of over 600 law school students said, “The (BCI) resolution is ignorant, harmful, and antithetical to our Constitution and the spirit of inclusive social life."
"It attempts to tell queer persons that the law and the legal profession have no place for them. We, the undersigned, are queer and allied student groups across Indian law schools," they said in a statement.
The students belong to 36 law schools, including National Law University Delhi, Faculty of Law, Delhi University and Gujarat National Law University.
The students in their statement said that as future members of the Bar, it has been alienating and hurtful to see seniors engaged in "such hateful rhetoric". The BCI’s resolution was “entirely unwarranted and a deplorable attempt” to illegitimately create influence for itself, it said.
“We are most troubled by the BCI’s stunning disregard for constitutional morality. Our Constitution is a counterweight to majoritarianism, religious morality, and unjust public opinion..,” it said.
The statement said that BCI must re-familiarise itself with the role envisioned during its establishment, look at the state of the Indian legal profession, and devote its resources to more pressing challenges – rather than needlessly entering constitutional debates.
“We are most troubled by the BCI’s stunning disregard for constitutional morality. Our Constitution is a counterweight to majoritarianism, religious morality, and unjust public opinion..,” it said.
A five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices S K Kaul, S R Bhat, Hima Kohli, and P S Narasimha is continuing with its hearing arguments on the pleas seeking validation of same-sex marriage for the sixth day on Thursday.