Solicitor General Tushar Mehta welcomes SC verdict on same-sex marriage
Oct 17, 2023
New Delhi [India], October 17 : Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta has welcomed Tuesday's Supreme Court's judgement refusing to recognise the legality of same-sex marriages.
"I wholeheartedly welcome the judgment. I am happy that my stand has been accepted. All four judgements have taken the jurisprudence of our nation and the intellectual exercise that went into writing the judgments at the next level. There are very few courts in the world where one can expect this level of intellectual and scholarly judicial exercise. This judgement would be read across jurisdictions," Tushar Mehta said while speaking to ANI after the top court's verdict.
Mehta, who argued on behalf of the Centre said that the case was beyond the scope of the Supreme Court and fell within the domain of Parliament. He further said that apex court's judgement balances the interests of individuals with the interests of a civilised society.
"It is an important step in jurisprudential development on the question of separation of powers and provides vivid and eloquent insights into the working of the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary which functions complimenting each other strictly as per the Constitution," the Soliciter General of India said.
Activist Anjali Gopalan, who was among the petitioners in the case said that the Supreme Court verdict was disappointing.
"We have been fighting for long and will keep doing so. Regarding adoption also nothing was done. What the CJI said was very good regarding adoption, but it's disappointing that other justices didn't agree...this is democracy but we are denying basic rights to our own citizens," Gopalan said.
Another petitioner and LGBTQIA+ rights activist Harish Iyer said that although the verdict was not in their favour, many observations by the Supreme Court were made in the favour of the community.
"They have also put the responsibility on the Central government and the Central government's Solicitor General said so many things against us so it is important for us to go to our elected government, MPs and MLAs and tell them we are as different as two people. War is underway...it might take some time but we will get societal equality," Iyer said.
The activist's plea was among the 21 petitions seeking legal validation for same-sex marriages that were heard by the Supreme Court today.
On the top court judgement, Advocate Karuna Nundy said that although there were four separate judgements but anything that was unanimous, was that the rights of queer citizens must be protected and state government can protect them.
A five-judge Constitution bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud ruled in a 3:2 verdict against giving constitutional validity to same-sex marriages. The top court said it is for Parliament to formulate legislation on it.
The bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha delivered the verdict it had reserved on May 11 this year.
Activists and those from the LGBTIQA+ community were hoping for a decision in their favour while there were some other activists who were rooting for the Supreme Court's current verdict as according to them legalising same-sex marriage would have distorted the social fabric of the country.
