SUPREME COURT
DECISION: “LEGAL IDENTIFICATION OF QUEER MARRIAGE”
The Supreme Court
refused to grant legal identification for queer marriage in India. The Supreme
court has also declined the right of adoption to queer couples by a 3:2
majority and further, the right of a civil Union to queer Couples has been
declined by a 3:2 majority as well. The constitutional bench of CJI DY
Chandrachud, Justice S K Kaul, Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice P S Narasima
with Justice Hima Kohli.
Justice Chandrachud
stated that queerness was not Urban and elite concept it is further stated that
the experience of queerness may be more visible in Urban Place because such
persons have more access to the many resources required to make one’s voice
heard.
While
Justice Bhat along with Justices Kohli and Narsimha
also agreed with the CJI’s views “We have not hesitation in agreeing that
queerness is a natural phenomenon that is neither urban or elite.”
Justice
Kaul
stated in the judgment that “non-heterosexual unions are well known to ancient
India civilization as attested by various texts, practices and depictions of
art.”
In
his Judgment the CJI, asserted that queer couples had the right to recognition
of that Union and also had a right to choose their partners. The right to enter
into a union is grounded in Article 19 (1)(e) and Article 21 of the Indian
Constitution as choosing a life partner is a constitutive part of choosing
one’s course of life. However, Justice Bhat and Justice Kohli, disagreed with
the view of the CJI and have stated that when the law is silent, Article
19(1)(a) does not compel the state to enact a law to facilitate that
expression.
