'Hope judgement is in our favour': Kolkata gay couple ahead of SC's ruling on marriage equality rights for LGBTQIA+ community

New Delhi [India], October 17 : As the Supreme Court is set to deliver its judgment on various petitions pertaining to marriage equality rights for the LGBTQIA+ community on Tuesday, a gay couple from West Bengal's Kolkata expressed their hope for a verdict in favour of their community.
"I hope that this verdict is passed in our favour. Once the law is passed people will be able to share about this easily without any hesitation," Abhishek Ray, who tied the knot with Chaitanya Sharma last year, said while speaking to ANI on Monday.
Meanwhile, Chaitanya Sharma also spoke to ANI ahead of the SC's judgement.
"We are very hopeful. Socially we are married, but now we want to get legally married. I think the judgement will be in favour. We are fighting for the positive thing," Sharma said.
"This is not just about the Marriage Act, it is about the basic fundamental rights. I think some things need to be done legally, then society will also accept it. I think once it will be made legal then people will come out and share about this and will not hesitate," he added.
Speaking to ANI on Monday, Karuna Nundy, an advocate in Delhi, said, "I see queer persons, lesbian, gay, transgender people, intersex people, asexual people, as citizens of this country, as human beings on this planet. We all come with certain rights. Tomorrow we shall see whether the court recognises the right to marry, the right to choose the person that we love or not."
"Let us see what happens. We have worked very hard. The struggle has been there for a long time. And regardless of what happens tomorrow, the struggle will continue. But we shall hope for the best," she added.
The Supreme Court will deliver its judgement on various petitions pertaining to marriage equality rights for the LGBTQIA+ community on Tuesday.
The five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha is dealing with a batch of petitions pertaining to marriage equality rights for LGBTQIA+ community.
The order was reserved on May 11 after counsel from all sides concluded their arguments. Constitution bench began the hearing on the matter on April 18 and the hearing went on for nearly 10 days.
Supreme Court is handling various petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage. One of the petitions earlier raised the absence of a legal framework allowing members of the LGBTQIA+ community to marry any person of their choice.
The court has clarified that it will deal with the issue under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act and will not touch the personal laws on this aspect.
According to one of the petitions, the couple sought to enforce the fundamental rights of LGBTQ+ individuals to marry any person of their choice. It said that "the exercise of which ought to be insulated from the disdain of legislative and popular majorities." The petitioners, further, asserted their fundamental right to marry each other and prayed for appropriate directions from this Court allowing and enabling them to do so.
The petition was represented by senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Saurabh Kirpal.
Centre has opposed the plea and said that Parliament and not the court should consider the issue.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has told the Supreme Court that the entire architecture of laws is from the perspective of the welfare of the child being paramount and adoption is not an alternative to biological birth in families of heterosexual couples.
Centre on April 18 issued a letter to states, asking them to give their opinion on the issues relating to same-sex marriage.
States of Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan have opposed the legal recognition of same-sex marriages in the country.