Four gay couples have asked India’s Supreme Court to recognize same-sex marriages, setting the stage for a legal face-off with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government which has in the past refused to legalize such marriages.
In a historic verdict in 2018, India’s top court decriminalized homosexuality by scrapping a colonial-era ban on gay sex.
Despite the 2018 ruling, members of India’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community complain about a lack of acceptance and discrimination against gay people in Indian society.
Photo: Reuters
LGBT advocates say that while the 2018 ruling affirmed their constitutional rights, they are still deprived of legal backing for same-sex marriages, a basic right enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.
In three Supreme Court filings seen by Reuters, the couples say that without legal recognition of being married, they are denied rights such as those linked to medical consent, pensions, adoption or even simpler things like club memberships for couples.
Lawyers and a court document confirmed a fourth petition along similar lines was also filed in the court.
“We can’t do so many things in the process of living together and building a life together,” said one of the litigants, businessman Uday Raj Anand, who wants to marry his partner, Parth Mehrotra, chief editor of India’s Juggernaut Books.
Another couple, Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang, said in their submission that they held a two-day commitment ceremony last year like any other “Big Fat Indian wedding,” but once the euphoria faded, they realized they could not take health insurance as couples or nominate each other in life insurance policies.
“In truth, they have no rights at all,” the filing states.
The four gay couples want a Supreme Court ruling that modifies or interprets laws in a way that allows same-gender marriages, the court filings show.
It is a sensitive subject in the socially conservative country of 1.4 billion people, where speaking openly about homosexuality is taboo for many.
The pleas have already triggered a debate on prime-time TV news and generated editorials in newspapers whether the time has come for the world’s largest democracy to join about three dozen countries where such marriages are legal.
The Indian Supreme Court cases, which follow many lawsuits filed in lower courts where no decision was reached, will be a key test for Modi’s Hindu nationalist government and his allies.
A lawmaker from Modi’s party yesterday appealed to colleagues in the upper house of parliament to oppose legal recognition of marriage between same-sex couples.
“Same-sex marriage will cause havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country... Two judges cannot take a decision on this social issue,” said Sushil Modi, a lawmaker from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Parliament and society must debate it,” he said.
The Supreme Court has given the government until Jan. 6 to submit its responses.
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