Petition urges court to review verdict on same-sex marriage

BY A 3-2 MAJORITY, THE TOP COURT ON OCT 17 DECLINED TO GRANT CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION TO CIVIL UNIONS AND ADOPTION RIGHTS FOR QUEER COUPLES

- Utkarsh Anand

A fortnight after the Supreme Court refused to grant legal recognition to same-sex couples and said only Parliament and state legislatures can validate their marital unions, one of the petitioners in the case on Wednesday approached the top court with a plea to review the October 17 judgment.

Udit Sood, a US-based lawyer who was among the 52 petitioners seeking marriage equality in India, filed a review petition, complaining that the majority judgment of the court was “manifestly unjust” and “self-contradictory” in not protecting the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community despite acknowledging its travails.

“The majority ruling is self-contradictory, facially erroneous and deeply unjust. The majority found that queer Indians endure severe discrimination at the hands of the State, declared that discrimination must be prohibited, and then did not take the logical next step of enjoining the discrimination,” Sood said in his petition.

By a 3-2 majority, the October 17 judgment also declined to grant constitutional protection to civil unions and adoption rights for queer couples, noting that mandating the State to grant recognition or legal status to some unions will violate the doctrine of separation of powers and could lead to unforeseeable consequences.