The story so far: The legal road to marriage rights — six months, five years and even longer in the making — has reached a divisive pit stop. A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday announced a 3:2 verdict on petitions seeking the rights for members of the LGBTQ community to marry and choose family. The Court declined to legalise same-sex marriage, placing it upon the Parliament and State governments to decide if non-heterosexual unions can be legally recognised.
The verdict weaves together four separate judgments, running into 366 pages, documenting “a degree of agreement and a degree of disagreement,” as the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud noted. The disagreement centred on how far the law can go on matters of adoption rights and the right to form civil unions. The majority opinions were held by Justices S. Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and P.S. Narasimha, and the minority views by the Chief Justice and Justice S.K. Kaul.
There was an overall majority affirming that trans persons in heterosexual relationships have the “right to marry under the existing laws or personal laws,” and general consensus about the harassment and discrimination faced by people in queer relationships.
