Centre opposes same-sex marriage in Supreme Court
HY News
17 April, 2023 01:06 pm IST
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The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the demand for legal recognition of same-sex marriage is merely a voicing of “urban elitist views” for the purpose of social acceptance.
The court should not try to judicially create a “new social institution” by endorsing same-sex marriages. The judges should leave the task to the Parliament, the people would decide whether such a “marriage of a different kind” is socially and religiously acceptable or not, the Centre said.
The government has filed this affidavit on the eve of the hearing of the same-sex marriage case before a Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
“Creation or recognition of a new social institution cannot be claimed as a matter of right/choice, much less a fundamental right,” the Centre said. The right to personal autonomy does not include a right for the recognition of same-sex marriage.
The court would adjudicate solely on the basis of petitions containing “elitist views”, while the legislature, on the other hand, would take into broader views and voices of the rural, semi-rural and urban population, the religious denominations, personal laws and customs and effect of same-sex unions on other laws governing marriage.
The existing concept of marriage as a heterogenous institution has the sanctity of law and religion. The legal recognition of same-sex marriage would “seriously affect the interests of every citizen”.
Submitting a fresh application on Sunday, the Centre maintained that the petitions before the court reflect “urban elitist views for the purpose of social acceptance” which cannot be equated with the appropriate legislature mirroring the views and voices of far wider spectrum of society.
The choice not to recognise same-sex marriage is a facet of the legislative policy, maintained the government, adding it is not a dispute fit for the court to adjudicate upon in the wake of a clear legislative policy and the compelling state interest underlying heterogenous institution of marriage, which can take place only between a biological man and a biological woman.
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