“Find Way to Give Basic Social Rights to Same-Sex Couples”: SC to Government

New Delhi: The government should find a way to give same-sex couples basic social rights like opening joint bank accounts or nominating a partner in insurance policies, the Supreme Court said on Thursday.

This statement of the Supreme Court hinted that the apex appears to accept that legalizing gay marriage is the parliament’s prerogative.

Several petitioners have argued before the court that denying them the right to marry violated their fundamental rights which meant they were discriminated and excluded.

The court told the Solicitor General to come back with a response from the government regarding how it could address some of these issues without granting marital status to same-sex couples.

“We take your point that if we enter this arena, this will be an arena of the legislature. So, now what? What does the government want to do with ‘cohabitory’ relations? And how a sense of security and social welfare is made? And to ensure that such relations are not ostracised?” Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has said the parliament, not a court of law, should debate the issue of same-sex marriage. The BJP-led Union government has opposed same-sex marriage on the grounds that such marriages are not “comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children.”