Centre opposes recognition of same-sex marriage in Supreme Court

The Centre has opposed in the Supreme Court a batch of pleas seeking legal validation of samesex marriage saying it would cause a complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws and in accepted societal valuesIn an affidavit before the Supreme Court which is scheduled to hear the matter on Monday the government submitted that despite the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code the petitioners cannot claim a fundamental right for samesex marriage to be recognised under the laws of the countryAt the same time it submitted that though the Centre limits its recognition to heterosexual relationships there may be other forms of marriages or unions or personal understandings of relationships between individuals in a society and these are not unlawfulIt said western decisions sans any basis in Indian constitutional law jurisprudence cannot be imported in this context while asserting that granting recognition to human relations is a legislative function and can never be a subject of judicial adjudicationMarriage as an institution in law has many statutory and other consequences under various legislative enactments Therefore any formal recognition of such human relationship cannot be regarded as just a privacy issue between two adults it saidThe Centre said the institution of marriage between two individuals of the same gender is neither recognised nor accepted in any uncodified personal laws or any codified statutory lawsThe government said that at the outset the notion of marriage itself necessarily and inevitably presupposes a union between two persons of the opposite sex and this definition is socially culturally and legally ingrained into the very idea and concept of marriage and ought not to be disturbed or diluted by judicial interpretationIt must be kept in mind that granting recognition and conferring rights recognising human relation which has its consequences in law and privileges is in essence a legislative function and can never be the subject matter of judicial adjudication The prayer made by the petitioner before this court is therefore wholly unsustainable untenable and misplaced it saidThe Centre said It is submitted that despite the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code the petitioners cannot claim a fundamental right for samesex marriage to be recognised under the laws of the countryIt said that even if such right is claimed under Article 21 of the Constitution such right can be curtailed by competent legislature on permissible constitutional grounds including legitimate state interestIt is submitted that there cannot be an untrammelled right under Article 21 and cannot override other constitutional principles the government said adding that Parliament has designed and framed marriage laws which are governed by personal lawscodified laws relatable to customs of various religious communities to recognise only the union of a man and a woman to be capable of legal sanction and thereby claim legal and statutory rights and consequencesIt is submitted that any interference with the same would cause a complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country and in accepted societal values it saidAlso Read Centre seeks actiontaken report from Punjab over PM Modis security breachThe Centre said that while there may be various other forms of marriages or unions or personal understandings of relationships between individuals in a society the State limits the recognition to the heterosexual formThe State does not recognise these other forms of marriages or unions or personal understandings of relationships between individuals in a society but the same are not unlawful it saidThe government said that the registration of marriage of same sex persons also results in violation of existing personal as well as codified law provisions such as degrees of prohibited relationship conditions of marriage and ceremonial and ritual requirements under personal laws governing the individualsIt said marriage between a biological man and a biological woman takes place either under the personal laws or codified laws namely the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 the Christian Marriage Act 1872 the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936 or the Special Marriage Act 1954 or the Foreign Marriage Act 1969Family issues are far beyond mere recognition and registration of marriage between persons belonging to the same gender Living together as partners and having sexual relationship by same sex individuals which is decriminalised now is not comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband a wife and children which necessarily presuppose a biological man as a husband a biological woman as a wife and the children born out of the union between the two who are reared by the biological man as father and the biological woman as mother it saidThe Centre said that by and large the institution of marriage has a sanctity attached to it and in major parts of the country it is regarded as a sacrament a holy union and a sanskarIn our country despite statutory recognition of the relationship of marriage between a biological man and a biological woman marriage necessarily depends upon ageold customs rituals practices cultural ethos and societal values it saidThe government said that all these indicate that in India marriage is a bond between a biological man and a biological woman only and that is the legislative policy of the legislature and the petitioners cannot pray for a mandamus of the court to change the legislative policyIt said this particular human relationship in its present form that is between a biological man and a biological woman is accepted statutorily religiously and socially and any recognised deviation of this human relationship can occur only before the competent legislatureIt added while a marriage may be between two private individuals having a profound impact on their private lives it cannot be relegated to merely a concept within the domain of privacy of an individual when the question of formalizing their relationship and the legal consequences flowing therefrom is involvedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever