SC To Hear Review Petition On Its Order Refusing To Legalise Same-Sex Marriage On July 10

A five-judge bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Hima Kohli, BV Nagarathna, and PS Narasimha will hear petitions reviewing SC judgment refusing to legalise same-sex marriage.

The Supreme Court of India is set to review petitions challenging its previous judgement that refused to legalise same-sex marriage in the country. The matter will be heard on July 10 by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Hima Kohli, BV Nagarathna, and PS Narasimha.

In November last year, petitioners advocating for marriage equality rights had sought an open court hearing of the review petition filed against the Supreme Court Constitution Bench's ruling, which denied any legal recognition to same-sex couples. The issue was raised by senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, representing the petitioners, before a bench led by Chief Justice Chandrachud. Rohtagi emphasised that the review plea should not be dismissed and insisted on an open court hearing.

In response, Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked, "I have not looked into the petitions yet, and the court will decide on the question of an open court hearing after reviewing the contents of the review pleas", as quoted by news agency IANS.

Typically, review petitions are considered on narrow grounds such as legal errors or apparent mistakes on record and are often dismissed in chambers without an open court hearing. The review petition, filed under Article 137 of the Constitution, challenges the October 17 judgement, describing it as "self-contradictory and manifestly unjust". The petition argues that the majority judgement is fundamentally flawed as it recognises the government's discrimination against the petitioners' fundamental rights but fails to address this discrimination.

Supreme Court's Refusal To Legalise Same-Sex Marriage

The Supreme Court's verdict on October 17, delivered by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud, declined to amend the Special Marriage Act to include gender-neutral terms in place of "male" and "female". The court left the decision to legislate marriage equality to the legislature. All five judges of the Constitution Bench unanimously agreed that there is no unqualified right to marriage and accepted the Centre’s proposal to establish a committee, led by the Cabinet Secretary, to examine administrative measures to address social benefit concerns for same-sex couples.

However, the court urged the Union and state governments to ensure that the LGBTQ+ community is not discriminated against based on their sexual orientation and that queer individuals are not denied access to any goods or services.