New Delhi: Four more people belonging to the gay and lesbian community urged Thursday the Delhi High Court to declare that marriages between any two persons irrespective of their sex be solemnised under the Special Marriage Act (SMA). The Delhi government in response to a similar petition filed earlier in the high court has said that there is no provision in the SMA under which two women can be married, and it would be willing to abide by the court’s direction.
The latest petition is in addition to three pleas already before the high court seeking recognition of same sex marriages under the SMA, Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) and Foreign Marriage Act (FMA).
A bench of Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Amit Bansal sought response of the Centre on the joint plea by three men and a woman, who have urged the court to also declare that the SMA applies, regardless of sex, to any two persons who wish to marry by reading down any gender or sexuality-based restrictions contained in the Act.
In their plea, filed through advocates Meghna Mishra and Tahira, the petitioners have also sought that the provisions in the SMA which require a ‘male’ and a ‘female’ for solemnisation of a marriage be declared as unconstitutional unless they are read as ‘neutral to gender identity and sexual orientation’.
During the hearing, the central government assured the bench that it would file a reply to the earlier petitions during the course of the day and the court listed all the four petitions, including the latest one, on April 20.
Meanwhile, Delhi government has filed its response to one of the petitions moved by two women seeking to get married under the SMA and challenging provisions of the statute to the extent it does not provide for same sex marriages. It has said that there was no provision in the SMA under which the two women can be married and their marriage be registered.
The latest petition has said that three of the petitioners have gone abroad as Indian laws do not recognise same sex couples or marriages and such relationships do not enjoy the same benefits as those enjoyed by heterosexual couples.
The fourth petitioner is also contemplating going abroad to be with his partner as laws here do not recognise same sex relationships, the petition has said.