Govt to Form Panel to Address Problems of Gay Community; Centre Assures SC  

New Delhi: The Central government will form a committee to look into “genuine human concerns” of the LGBTQIA+ community; the centre assured the Supreme Court on Wednesday. This assurance was given during the hearing on petitions seeking legal status for same-sex marriages.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted this assurance of the Centre before a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud. Centre informed the Supreme Court that it is agreeable to set up a committee to be headed by the cabinet secretary to examine the administrative steps it can take to address some of the concerns in connection with basic social benefits for same-sex couples.

The “human concerns” here refer to several problems faced by same-sex couples in their day-to-day life, whether it is in opening a joint bank account or in adding a partner as a nominee in the insurance policy.

The top court is hearing a batch of petitions seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriages.

On April 27, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to find a way to give same-sex couples basic social benefits, like joint bank accounts or nominating a partner in insurance policies, even without legal recognition of their marital status, while it appeared that the court could be agreeing that granting legal recognition to same-sex marriages falls within the domain of legislature.