CJI Chandarchud: On gay marriage, DY Chandrachud said, “I believe that the court should at least recognize these couples’ right to civil union i.e. a legal relationship between two people
Same Sex Marriage: CJI Chandrachud made some such comments about marriage, which may hurt many people. On gay marriage, DY Chandrachud said, “I believe that the court should at least recognize these couples’ right to civil union i.e. a legal relationship between two people and this recognition should be till the Parliament takes any step to make a law in this regard.”
In October 2023, a bench of five judges gave its verdict on same-sex marriage in the Supreme Court. Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Seema Kohli, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Savindra Bhat and Justice PS Narasimha were included. The decision of these five judges was that the Supreme Court had refused to give a decision on same-sex marriage. It is not that everyone had the same opinion, the other Chief Justices were divided on the judgment. Another judge along with Justice DY Chandrachud wanted that more homosexual couples should be allowed to live together and get the right to adopt a child, while the other three judges said that without a law, such couples cannot get rights.
This answer was given at Oxford University
Justice DY Chandrachud, who recently went to Oxford University, was asked a question related to same-sex marriage. He was asked that the court had refused to recognize same-sex marriage. Was this in accordance with the duty of the court to make the law humane? Answering this, Justice DY Chandrachud said that we cannot disregard the law to make it humane. The Special Marriage Act has an importance and in this law there is man and woman. The court cannot read it as man and man or woman and woman.
Parliament passes the law
Justice DY Chandrachud says that the Parliament has the right to make laws in India. Therefore, we felt that if same-sex marriage is to be recognized, then this work will have to be done by the Parliament. He said that I believe that the court should at least recognize the right of two people to have a legal relationship, i.e. civil union. Until the Parliament gives a decision on this, but this did not happen because I was not in the majority. Because the other three judges believed that recognizing same-sex relationships is beyond the scope of the court.
A large part of the country has accepted it – CJI Chandrachud
Justice DY Chandrachud said that being the Chief Justice of India, I have a firm belief that we need to take the judicial process to the homes and hearts of the people. People should understand that even the smallest issues coming to the court are considered most seriously. Between the day when we decriminalized homosexuality and today, these relationships have been accepted in a large part of the society. I think a lot of things need to be done by the society itself. You cannot depend on the court to resolve all disputes.
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