How Can Same-Sex Couples Avail Social Benefits, Supreme Court Asks Centre

The government should find a way to give same-sex couples basic social rights like opening joint bank accounts or nominating a partner in insurance policies, the Supreme Court said on Thursday, as it appeared to accept that legalising gay marriage is the parliament's prerogative.

Considering a batch of appeals for the recognition and protection of same-sex marriages, the court has been hearing petitioners who have argued that denying them the right to marry violated their fundamental rights and resulted in discrimination and exclusion.

Asking the government to see how it could address some of these issues without granting marital status to same-sex couples, the court told the Solicitor General to come back with a response on Wednesday.

"We take your point that if we enter this arena, this will be an arena of the legislature. So, now what? What does the government want to do with 'cohabitory' relations? And how a sense of security and social welfare is made? And to ensure that such relations are not ostracised?" Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said.

The comment came a day after Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the parliament, not a court of law, should debate the issue of same-sex marriage. He, however, clarified that he does not want to make the matter a "government versus judiciary" issue.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has opposed these appeals, some from gay couples, on the grounds that such marriages are not "comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children."

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud has been hearing arguments in the case since last week, and several of the court's observations have been front-page news as well as the topic of social media debates.