"SC has upheld principle of parliamentary supremacy": Asaduddin Owaisi on SC verdict
Oct 17, 2023
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 17 : All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court had upheld the "principle of parliamentary supremacy" after the top court refused to recognise the legality of same-sex marriages.
"SC has upheld the principle of parliamentary supremacy. It is not up to the courts to decide who gets married under what law. My faith and my conscience say that marriage is only between a man and a woman. This is not a question of decriminalisation like in the case of 377, it is about the recognition of marriage. It is correct that the state cannot extend it to anyone and everyone," Owaisi posted on X (Formerly Twitter).
He raised concerns over the bench's ruling that transgender persons in heterosexual relationships have a right to marry as per the existing statutory laws or personal laws.
"I am concerned about an observation made from the bench that transgender people can marry under SMA and Personal Laws. This is not a correct interpretation as far as Islam is concerned as Islam does not recognise marriage between two biological males or two biological females," he added.
"I agree with Justice Bhat "A gender-neutral interpretation of the Special Marriage Act may not be equitable at times and can result in women being exposed to vulnerabilities in an unintended manner," he said.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court 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.
