What will govt do for security of same-sex couples: Supreme Court

The CJI posed the query to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who reiterated that legally recognising same-sex marriages would impact personal law and throw up several other related issues which the court cannot foresee and, therefore, the issue should be left to Parliament.

The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha, pointed to live-in relationships being recognised in law and wondered if similar rights can be extended to same-sex couples.

“Legislation has gone this far as to recognise live-in relationships, right to residence. So, there can be situations where a person in a live-in relationship may get the same house. There is a recognition and all the rights around it. So it’s not as if things are working in their own silos. That too has linkage with family law,” Justice Bhat said.

Justice Narasimha asked, “When we say recognition, should it always mean marriage?” and added that it can mean any association which entitles them to certain benefits.

Mehta said people were free to have any sexual orientation or cohabit but the issue was only about legal recognition of a relationship.

The CJI, however, said that once the right to cohabitation is accepted, there is a corresponding duty on the State to recognise all the incidents of that cohabitation.

When the Solicitor General said the government also shares the concern, the CJI said, “That’s why we thought this should come from you. Ultimately, we want some element of a broad sense of coalition. Because we are also conscious about the fact that there is so much representative democracy must also achieve in our country.”