SC urged to use authority to ensure acceptance of same-sex marriages as LGBTQIA have no representation in Parliament

The petitioners seeking legal validation for samesex marriage on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to use its plenary power prestige and moral authorityrdquo to push the society to acknowledge such a union as would ensure LGBTQIA persons lead a ldquodignifiedrdquo life like heterosexuals as they have no representation in ParliamentSenior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for one of the petitioners urged before a fivejudge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud ldquothe State should come forward and provide recognition to samesex marriagerdquoRohatgi referred to judgements including the one that decriminalised consensual gay sex to say the court was revisiting something which has already been decidedIf the consensual sexual relationship in private is accepted legally then the next natural consequence is the validation of the marriage so that homosexuals are not treated as ldquolesser mortalsrdquo in public space he saidldquoOur parents have accepted us despite belonging to older generations They want their children to settle in their lives The State wants them to be ostracised They want their parents to be ostracised All these discriminations are needed to be wiped outrdquo Rohatgi saidHe said LGBTQIA lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer questioning intersex pansexual twospirit asexual and ally have no representation in Parliament and that is why it is the courts where they have to comeRohatgi said courts have always struck down the majoritarian view that if a minuscule population is affected by any action there was no need for any course correction It has been held that if one persons fundamental right is affected that impugned action has to be struck down he saidThe veteran lawyer referred to the law on widow remarriage and said the society did accept it then the ldquolaw acted with alacrityrdquo and social acceptance followedldquoHere this court needs to push the society to acknowledge the samesex marriage This court besides the power under Article 142 which provides SC the plenary power to pass any order necessary for doing complete justice of the Constitution has moral authority and it enjoys public confidence We rely on the prestige and moral authority of this court to ensure that we get our rightrdquo Rohagti told the bench which also comprised Justices S K Kaul S R Bhat Hima Kohli and P S NarasimhaHe said ldquoThe State should come forward and provide recognition to samesex marriage which will help us lead a dignified life like heterosexualsrdquoldquoI am equal to heterosexual groups and it cannot be so that their sexual orientation is correct and all others are incorrect I am saying let there be a positive affirmationWe should not be treated as lesser mortals and there will be full enjoyment of the right to liferdquo he saidAlso readMumbai Police conducts operation All Out in city several arrested in raidsThe bench said as it was not going into the personal laws several rounds of litigations will followRohatgi referred to the Indian scenario before the arrival of Muslim and British rulers and said society permitted such sexual actsldquoYou go to Khajuraho sexual acts are depicted there and they are there for several hundred yearsThere is no European influence British influence prevailed since they made the laws and this Victorian model of decency was imposedrdquo he said adding it exhibited a ldquocolonial mindsetrdquo and must go nowldquoWe are being buried under the pressure of the majorityThis court cannot stop at annulling section 377 of the IPC penal provision against consensual gay sex It should grant us equal rights to marry like heterosexual couples so that we can live in society with dignityrdquo he addedThe arguments will resume tomorrowThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever