Plea seeks direction for same-sex marriage registration under religion-neutral or secular law in Delhi HC

An intervention application (IA) was moved in Delhi High Court stating that in the matter of recognition of same-sex marriage, the marriage should either be registered under secular law like the Special Marriage Act or must be allowed under all religious laws such as Muslim Marriage Law and Sikhs' Anand Marriage Act.

New Delhi:An Intervention Application (IA) was moved in Delhi High Court seeking direction for the registration of same-sex marriage either under religion-neutral law or under secular law.

The bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on Friday said that it will hear the Intervention Application (IA) along with the pending batch of petitions seeking recognition of same-sex marriages under the special, Hindu and foreign marriage laws. The court listed the matter for further hearing on February 3, 2022, with the pending matters.

The application, filed by Sanjeev Newar, Swati Goel Sharma for their organization Sewa Nyay Utthan Foundation through Advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha, states that in the matter of recognition of same-sex marriage, the marriage either be registered under secular law like Special Marriage Act or must be allowed under all religious laws such as Muslim Marriage Law and Sikhs' Anand Marriage Act. It must be made religion-neutral.

The application stated that the petitioner organization have objections to the registration of such marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act as this Act is directly derived from Hindu dharmic texts such as Ved and Upanishads, where a marriage is defined as allowed between a biological male and a biological female only. The petitioners have stated no objection if such marriages are registered under acts other than the Hindu Marriage Act such as Special Marriage Act and Foreign Marriage Act. If it must be registered under Hindu Marriage Act, it must happen for all religions, said the plea.

Before the court decided in favour of same-sex marriages for Hindus, it must first consider the systems where the marriage is merely a 'civil contract' such as Nikah. The petitioners also state that before allowing registration of same-sex marriages for Hindus who have a more than 10 thousand-year history, it must begin with newer faiths such as Muslims (1400 years old), Christians (2000 years old), Parsi (2500 years old), the plea read.

Recently, the Delhi High Court had issued notice to the Central Government on an application seeking live streaming of proceedings on petitions for recognition of same-sex marriages under the special, Hindu and foreign marriage laws.

The Delhi High court is examining a batch of petitions filed by several same-sex couples, seeking a declaration recognizing same-sex marriages under the special, Hindu and foreign marriage laws.

The Centre had earlier told Delhi High Court that the acceptance of the institution of marriage between two individuals of the same gender is neither recognized nor accepted in any uncodified personal laws or any codified statutory laws. The Centre in its reply to various petitions seeking recognition of same-sex marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act, the Special Marriage Act and the Foreign Marriage Act, has opposed it saying that pleas are unsustainable, untenable and misplaced.

ANI