SG Mehta said the committee will be headed by Cabinet Secretary (File photo/News18)
A five-judge constitution bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices SK Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, PS Narasimha and Hima Kohli is hearing arguments on a batch of pleas seeking legal validation for same-sex marriages.
The Centre has agreed to set up a committee to examine the suggestions of the LGBTQIA++ community to ease the problems faced by them, solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Solicitor General Mehta said the committee will be headed by Cabinet Secretary and petitioners seeking legalisation of same-sex marriage can give their suggestions to the committee through Mehta.
A five-judge constitution bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices SK Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, PS Narasimha and Hima Kohli is hearing arguments on a batch of pleas seeking legal validation for same-sex marriages.
Last week, the Centre urged the Supreme Court to consider leaving questions raised in the pleas seeking legal sanction for same sex marriages to Parliament, saying the court is dealing with a “very complex” subject having a very “profound social impact” and which would also require going into 160 provisions of different laws.
Asserting that revisiting these provisions would be a “humongous exercise” even for Parliament and that the judiciary was not at all equipped and empowered to do so, the Centre vehemently reiterated its submissions and urged the five-judge Constitution to stop the exercise arising out of the pleas of LGBTQIA++ to grant them the right to marry.
Submitting that the real question is as to who would take a call on what constitutes marriage and between whom, Solicitor General Mehta told the bench there are several ramifications not only on the society but unintended ramifications on other statutes which would need a debate in the society, various state legislatures and civil society groups.
Contending that marriage is a socio-legal institution and its recognition squarely falls within the domain of legislative policy decisions, Mehta said the “very heart” of the Special Marriage Act is the recognition of marriage between a conventional man and conventional woman.
During the hearing, the court observed it is a well settled principle that “judges don’t legislate” and asked the Centre not to cite in its support the controversial verdict of the US Supreme Court in the Dobbs case which had held there is no constitutional right to abortion.
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