I. INTRODUCTION
Last month, the Supreme Court of India began hearing a batch of 20 petitions seeking the legal recognition of same-sex marriages. A five-judge constitution bench comprising the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, PS Narasimha, and Hima Kohli began hearing the petitions mid-April, with both sides concluding their arguments on May 11, 2023. While at least two of these writ petitions were originally filed in the Supreme Court, nine other petitions seeking the same relief in the High Courts of Delhi and Kerala were transferred to the Supreme Court earlier this year. Acknowledging that these petitions raised issues of “seminal importance,” the Supreme Court also allowed for the live streaming of the arguments.
The constitution bench will ultimately decide whether the petitioners’ rights to life and personal liberty and right to dignity, have been impinged by the failure to recognize the right of couples of the same sex to marry. The first hearing that took place on April 18, 2023, sparked vigorous debate on the maintainability of such petitions, prior to arguments formally commencing. The Union of India submitted that the ability to allow couples of the same sex to marry lies solely within the powers of the legislature. Given that the legislature has not promulgated any statutes in relation to same sex couples, the solicitor general of India put forth that there was no legal basis for the Supreme Court to...
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