NEW DELHI: Government of India on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it received replies from a total of seven states regarding the matter of same-sex marriages. Out of the replies received, the state governments of Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh gave their opinions against providing legal validation to the same.
A five-member Bench of the Supreme Court of India headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has been hearing the litigation regarding giving legal validation to same-sex marriages in the country and the legal as well as social implications of the same. The Bench has asked all the states as well as the central government to provide their opinions regarding the matter.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who is appearing for the Government of India had earlier mentioned that the government is ready to give some serious thought to the idea. During the recent hearing of the case on Monday, he said the that the four states namely Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Maharastra and Sikkim have mentioned the need for a “very intense and expansive debate” regarding the matter while Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh have given negative feedback regarding the same. In an affidavit filed with the Court earlier, the Central government mentioned that it had issued a letter on April 18 to all states inviting comments and views on the "seminal issue" raised in these petitions.
"At the outset, I had said that we have written letters to the state governments. There are seven responses, I am not reading them, from Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam, Sikkim and Rajasthan. I am placing them on record," Mehta told the bench, which also comprised Justices SK Kaul, SR Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha, on Wednesday.
The reply from Assam told the Union Law Ministry that the subject invokes new interpretations and challenges the validity of laws concerning marriage and personal laws enforced in the state with diverse cultures, creeds, customs and religions. Adding that the matter calls for a wide-ranging discussion on various aspects of the institution of marriage as a social phenomenon, it may be said that even across societies, the legal understanding of marriage has been that of an agreement/contract between two persons of opposite genders.
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