Law & Judiciary

    Will not go into personal laws, says SC while hearing pleas for legal validation for same-sex marriages

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    Chirag Kaul
    April18/ 2023
    Last Updated:

    supreme court

    New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it clear that it will not go into the personal laws governing marriages while deciding the pleas seeking legal validation for same-sex marriages and asked the lawyers to advance arguments on the Special Marriage Act.

    A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud termed the issue involving the pleas “complex” and said the very notion of a man and a woman, as referred to in the Special Marriage Act, is not “an absolute based on genitals".

    “It is not the question of what your genitals are. It is far more complex, that's the point. So, even when the Special Marriage Act says man and woman, the very notion of a man and a woman is not an absolute based on genitals,” said the bench, which also comprised justices Justices S K Kaul, S R Bhat, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha. PTI