HC adjourns plea seeking recognition of same-sex marriage under Hindu Marriage Act

HC adjourns plea seeking recognition of same-sex marriage under Hindu Marriage Act

Today Delhi High Court was heard the Public Interest Litigation seeking recognition of Same-sex marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act. PIL was filed by Abhijeet Iyer Mitra, Gopi Shankar, Geeti Thadani and G. Orvasi. Same as in other marriages, gay marriage gets equal rights‘

The court asked the petitioners to hand over the list of those who were denied registration of the Same-sex marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act. At the same time, the Central Government also opposed the Same-sex marriage in court citing culture and law, while the court accepted that there are many changes happening in the world now. The PIL has been requested by the court to grant gay couples the right to marry under the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955. The petition said that banning such unions is a violation of their constitutional rights.

Four members of the LGBT community together filed a PIL on September 8, which is being heard by the Chief Justice of Delhi HC DN Patel and Judge Prateek Jalan.

The petition said that the Hindu Marriage Act does not say that marriage should be between men and women. Homosexuality is not a crime in India since 2018, but why is gay marriage a crime. The petition said that when the LGBT community has been recognized by the Supreme Court, then denial of marriage would be a violation of the provisions of the Constitution.

This is the second petition to be filed for gay marriage. In January, a Kerala couple filed a petition in the Kerala High Court challenging the Special Marriage Act. Counsel for the petitioners, Raghav Awasthi, said that there is no reason for not giving equal rights to same-sex marriages as in other marriages in the 21st century. At the same time, the petitioner Gopi Shankar said that equality is very important.

There are many people in the LGBT community whose marriage is not being registered by the registrar. He also wants to marry gay and they want to register their relationship. With this, Gopi Shankar pointed to a decision of the Madras High Court of 2019, in which the marriage of a man and a transwoman was upheld. The judgment said that the word ‘bride’ in the Hindu Marriage Act also includes a transwoman.

In 2018, Supreme Court lawyer Saurabh Kripal, who removed homosexuality from the category of crime, said that the words written in the law do not exclude the provision of gay marriage, but normal behaviour considers them out of the law. The court should treat gay marriages with positivity.

The next hearing in the case will be held on October 12.

By Priya Kumari