New Delhi: The Centre told the Delhi High Court that marriage between same sex couples was “not permissible” as it is not recognised by “our laws, legal system, society and our values”.
The submission was made before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan by Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta who opposed the relief sought in the petition saying “our laws, our legal system, our society and our values do not recognise a marriage, which is a sacrament, between same sex couples”.
He said the plea to grant recognition or permit registration of such marriages was “not permissible” for two reasons — firstly, the petition was asking the court to legislate and secondly, any relief granted “would run contrary to various statutory provisions. Unless court does violence to various laws, this cannot be done”. The bench observed that the world over things were changing, but it may or may not be applicable to India.
Mehta also said that the judgment of the Supreme Court is “merely decriminalizes homosexuality or lesbians. Nothing more, nothing less”. It was argued that the Supreme Court has already ruled that there is no legal bar on homosexual relationships. The denial of registration is violative of the right to equality and right to life. The court adjourned the case to October while asking petitioner counsel to bring on record the facts or instances where persons are aggrieved of non-registration of such marriage.
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