Supreme Court rejects review petitions on same-sex marriage judgment

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a bundle of review petitions against its October 2023 judgment in the same-sex marriage case.

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, Surya Kant, BV Nagarathna, PS Narasimha and Justice Dipankar Datta took the petitions related to the matter in chambers.

The new bench was constituted after Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the present CJI, recused from hearing the review petitions on July 10.

Notably, Justice P S Narasimha is the only member of the original Constitution bench comprising five judges which delivered the verdict, as former CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices S K Kaul, Ravindra Bhat, and Hima Kohli have retired.

The October 17, 2023, judgment, delivered by a 3-2 majority, declined to grant same-sex couples legal recognition for marriages or civil unions, stating that the issue fell within the legislative domain.

The majority opinion, penned by justices Bhat, Kohli and Narasimha, held that extending the right to marry or enter civil unions to queer couples was not a constitutionally protected mandate.

However, the dissenting opinions of CJI Chandrachud and justice Kaul emphasised the constitutional rights of queer individuals to form unions and adopt children, bemoaning the exclusion of non-heterosexual couples from existing legal frameworks. Both underscored that the State has a duty to create enabling laws that protect LGBTQIA+ rights.

The review petitions challenge the October ruling as “manifestly unjust” and inconsistent with constitutional values. Advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community argue that the court, despite acknowledging the discrimination faced by queer couples, failed to provide meaningful relief.

Udit Sood, a US-based lawyer and one of the 52 original petitioners, filed the first review plea in November 2023. He contended that the majority’s refusal to protect civil unions or grant adoption rights amounted to a denial of justice for queer individuals.