For the past five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has consistently opposed efforts to legally formalize same-sex partnerships, even after the Supreme Court abolished colonial-era laws prohibiting gay relations.
Earlier this year, legal representatives for various same-sex couples implored the court to confer full legal recognition on their unions. However, the court's five-member bench concluded that extending marriage equality rested with the parliamentary authorities.
"Decisions regarding marriage laws fall within the jurisdiction of parliament and state legislatures," emphasized Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud during the verdict.
The court's judgment clarified that, as things currently stood, India's constitution did not guarantee the fundamental right to marriage for same-sex couples. However, it did extend marriage rights to couples where one or both partners identified as transgender, provided that one participant identified as male and the other as female.
Chandrachud emphasized that India still bore a duty to acknowledge same-sex relationships and to protect individuals involved in such relationships from discrimination.
“Our ability to feel love and affection for one another makes us feel human,” he said from the bench.
“This court has recognised that equality demands that queer unions and queer persons are not discriminated against.”
The court's decision instructed the government to establish a committee responsible for assessing the extent of rights for same-sex couples in the future, all without mandating immediate government recognition.
Outside the courtroom, a crowd had gathered in anticipation of celebrating India's potential position as the second Asian jurisdiction, following in the footsteps of Taiwan, to embrace the legalization of same-sex marriages. However, the verdict was met with sadness and disappointment among those assembled.
“We are not satisfied with whatever the court has said”, Siddhant Kumar, 27, told AFP.
