Same Sex Marriage Case: SC To Hear Review Petition On July 10

The Supreme Court will hear the review petition filed against the decision of the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench on same sex marriage case on July 10

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will hear the petition seeking review of the top court’s order relating to marriage equality. The other four judges on the bench will be justices Sanjiv Khanna, Hima Kohli, BV Nagarathna and PS Narasimha.

Notably, Justices SK Kaul and S Ravindra Bhat, who have retired from the bench, have been replaced by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and BV Nagarathna.Various review petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the top court judgement, which has denied marriage equality rights to queer couples.

Fresh Review Petition Filed

The petitioners sought a review of the majority judgement, saying that it suffers from errors of law, application of law contrary to established principles, and grave miscarriage justice.

“The Majority Judgement erroneously holds that the issue of “whether the absence of law or a regulatory framework, or the failure of the State to enact law, amounts to discrimination that is protected against under Article 15″ was not argued or urged by the petitioners,” read the petition.

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The plea also pointed out that the majority judgement erroneously refused to find Regulation 5(3) of the Adoption Regulations, 2022, unconstitutional, finding that the law treats children of married couples and unmarried couples differently.

“However, this is contrary to established principles of law because, as noted by CJI Chandrachud in his dissenting opinion, the law offers no protection to a child adopted by a married couple, that it does not offer to a child adopted by an unmarried couple,” read the plea.

No Fundamental Right to Marry For Queer Communities

The majority judgement was delivered by justices SR Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice SK Kaul delivered different opinion. A total of 21 petitions were filed regarding same sex marriage case. The Constitution Bench gave its decision by a majority of 3:2.

The majority judgment held that there is no fundamental right to marry; transgender persons have the right to heterosexual marriage under the existing provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020; an entitlement to legal recognition of the right to union–akin to marriage or civil union, or conferring legal status upon the parties to the relationship can only be achieved through enacted law and the court cannot enjoin or direct the creation of such a regulatory framework resulting in legal status.