Delhi HC adjourns to July 6 hearing on petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex couple
May 24, 2021
New Delhi [India], May 24 : The Delhi High Court on Monday adjourned till July 6 hearing on various petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex couple.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought an adjournment and said Court is hearing the only extremely urgent matter and law officers are now busy with matter pertaining to COVID issues and other real urgent issues.
"Nobody is dying due to not having marriage certificates," said SG Mehta.
Senior Advocate Saurabh Kirpal appealing for the petitioner sought to decide the matter expeditiously and urged the court to hear it next week.
A Division Bench of Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Justice C Hari Shankar adjourned the matter till July 6.
The court was hearing various petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex couple. The petitioners said that the LGBT community members are forced to suppress their feelings of getting married to the person of their own choice and raised the issue that denying the LGBT community the option to marry is absolute discriminatory and creates them a Second Class of Citizens.
The Centre has earlier told the Delhi High Court that the acceptance of the institution of marriage between two individuals of the same gender is neither recognized nor accepted in any uncodified personal laws or any codified statutory laws.
Centre in its reply on various petitions seeking recognition of same-sex marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act, the Special Marriage Act and the Foreign Marriage Act, has opposed it saying that pleas are unsustainable, untenable and misplaced.
Centre in its reply said that "marriage" is essentially a socially recognized union of two individuals which is governed either by uncodified personal laws or codified statutory laws.
"The acceptance of the institution of marriage between two individuals of the same gender is neither recognized nor accepted in any uncodified personal laws or any codified statutory laws," Centre said opposing the various pleas on same-sex marriage and urged the court to dismiss it.
