Same-sex marriage: Supreme Court gave the government until January 6 to give responses
Days before the centre spells out its stand on same-sex marriages before the Supreme Court, an MP of the ruling BJP strongly objected to it in parliament today and said "two judges can't sit and decide" on such a socially significant subject.
Sushil Modi, a BJP Rajya Sabha member, raised the subject during Zero Hour and said "some left-liberal activists" were trying to get legal sanctity for gay marriages. "The judiciary should not give any order that is against the cultural ethos of the country," Mr Modi, an MP from Bihar, said, calling it unacceptable.
"I oppose legalising same sex marriages. In India, same-sex marriage is neither recognised nor accepted in any uncodified personal law like the Muslim Personal Law or any codified statutory laws. Same sex marriages will cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country."
He urged the government to strongly argue against same-sex marriage in court.
"Two judges cannot decide on such an important social issue. There should be a debate in parliament as well as the society at large," said the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister.
The Supreme Court, in a landmark verdict in 2018, scrapped a colonial-era ban on gay sex and decriminalised homosexuality. LGBT activists say they are still deprived of legal sanctity for same-sex marriages, which is a basic right enjoyed by heterosexual couples.
Four gay couples have requested a Supreme Court ruling that modifies or interprets laws in a way that allows same-gender marriages, news agency Reuters has reported citing court filings.
The centre had opposed same-sex marriages in the past and had said courts should stay away from the law-making process and leave it to parliament.
In one state court filing last year, the law ministry said marriage depends on "age-old customs (and) rituals" and a sexual relationship between same-sex individuals is "not comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children."
In India, marriage is "a solemn institution between a biological man and a biological woman", it said.
The Supreme Court has given the government until January 6 to submit its responses.
Backing the couples are high-profile lawyers including a former Attorney General and a lawyer named Saurabh Kirpal, who told NDTV in an exclusive interview that he believed is elevation as a state judge was delayed because of his sexual orientation.