New Delhi, Nov 25, 2022: On Friday, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justices DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli issued notice to the Centre and Attorney General R Venkataramani on two pleas by gay couples seeking a direction that their marriage be recognised under the special marriage law.
One plea was filed by gay couple Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang who resided in Hyderabad. Meanwhile, the second plea was filed by gay couple Parth Phiroze Mehrotra and Uday Raj.
In their pleas, they seek a direction that the right to marry a person of one’s choice be extended to persons belonging to the LGBTQ community as well (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and Queer).
The plea mentions that non-recognition of same-sex marriages violates the right to equality and right to life enshrined under articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court in 2018 had unanimously decriminalised part of the 158-year-old colonial law under Section 377 of the IPC which criminalises consensual unnatural sex.
