India’s Supreme Court has declined to approve same-sex marriages in a blow for LGBTQ rights in the country. The judgment, issued by the apex court, involved a batch of petitions seeking the legalisation of same-sex marriages in the country. The contentious issue sparked fervent debates on matters of equality, human rights, and personal freedoms.
In a lengthy judgement, the Supreme Court of India has called upon the government to establish legal recognition for same-sex couples, emphasizing the need to prevent discrimination against them. However, the Court refrained from integrating such couples into the existing legal framework of marriage.In his judgment, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said that whether marriage equality is a legalised is something parliament must decide on, and it is not within the court's remit to create new laws.
This case was brought forth by 21 separate petitions from members of the LGBT+ community, who contended that the denial of the right to marry infringed upon their constitutional rights, effectively relegating them to the status of "second-class citizens."The government, in response, contested these petitions. Their argument, made just five years after the decriminalization of gay sex in India, asserted that marriage is a sacred institution reserved exclusively for unions between a man and a woman. They further contended that those advocating for marriage equality represented an "urban elitist view seeking social acceptance."The case was presided over by the country's most senior judge, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, alongside four other Supreme Court justices