Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 6: The Supreme Court transferred to itself various petitions on Friday seeking legal recognition for same-sex marriage from various High Courts. A bench made up of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice PS Narasimha was presented with the case.
In case that petitioner is unable to hire legal representation or travel to Delhi, the bench also gave them the freedom to appear on a virtual forum and present their arguments.
The petition batch is now scheduled for March 13, 2023.
The counsels first informed the bench that several petitions were to be transferred to the Supreme Court in addition to the main petition because they had been pending before various high courts, including the High Court of Delhi, the High Court of Gujarat, and the High Court of Kerala.
“Since several petitions are pending before diverse high courts on the same subject, we direct to transfer all petitions before this court. To obviate any difficulty to a petitioner who cannot engage a counsel or travel to Delhi, all the petitioners are provided the liberty to appear on a virtual platform and advance their submissions. Link to be provided to any who asks for the same. Notice to be issued to central agencies. Counter affidavits to be filed by 15th Feb 2023. List for directions on March 13th,” CJI Chandrachud, while dictating the order said.
In addition, the bench named Advocates Arundhati Katju for the petitioners and Advocate Kanu Agarwal for the Union of India as nodal counsels and asked them to compile relevant precedents, records, and laws.
A PIL submitted by Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang was among the PIL. They had been together for about ten years, and in December 2021, they had a commitment ceremony where their parents, relatives, and friends blessed their union. They now want the Special Marriage Act to recognise their marriage. Parth Phiroze Mehrotra and Uday Raj Anand, who have been dating for the past 17 years, also filed a PIL in the group of PILs.
