Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi welcomes SC's decision on same-sex marriage
Oct 17, 2023
New Delhi [India], October 17 : As the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to recognise the right of same-sex couples to enter into marriages and left it to the Parliament to decide the issue, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said the apex court's decision is "commendable."
"This decision of the court is commendable and no religion or religion allows gay marriage...If such issues are raised in the Parliament then it will be an insult to the Parliament and such issues should not be raised in the Parliament. If a few people in the country's population are in support of gay marriage, it does not mean that a law should be made regarding it. People of any religion will completely agree with this decision of the Supreme Court, "
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to recognise the right of same-sex couples to enter into marriages or have civil unions and left it to the Parliament to decide the issue. A five-judge Constitution bench unanimously said it cannot strike down the provisions of the Special Marriage Act (SMA) or read words differently to include non-heterosexual couples within its fold.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha refused to tweak the provisions of the Special Marriage Act even as the apex court declared that queer couples have a right to cohabit without any threat of violence, coercion of interference.
There were four judgements separately authored by the CJI and Justices Kaul, Bhat and Narasimha. While CJI and Justice Kaul have the same opinion, Justices Bhat, Narasimha and Kohli have agreed with each other.
The majority judges by 3:2 held that non-heterosexual couples cannot be granted the right to jointly adopt a child. However, CJI and Justice Kaul said that these couples have the right to jointly adopt a child.
Regulation 5(3) of the Adoption Regulations as framed by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is violative of Article 15 of the Constitution for discriminating against the queer community, the minority verdict said.
While the minority judges batted for legal recognition of civil unions for non-heterosexuals, the majority held that there cannot be a right to civil unions that can be legally enforceable.
All the five judges agreed that there is no fundamental right to marry.
The minority judges said that Centre, States, and Union Territories shall not bar queer people from entering into unions to avail of the benefits of the State. The majority verdict said that the entitlement to civil unions can be only through enacted laws and courts cannot enjoin such creation of a regulatory framework.
However, they were unanimous in the creation of a high-powered committee proposed by the Centre in May to examine the concerns of queer couples and moot certain corrective measures.
The three judges said that queer persons are not prohibited from celebrating their love for each other, and they have the right to choose their own partner and they must be protected to enjoy such rights.
