Supreme Court dismisses review petitions on same-sex marriage, upholds previous verdict

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday, January 9 dismissed review petitions challenging its landmark ruling that denied legal recognition to same-sex marriages in the country. The court firmly maintained that there was no constitutional foundation to grant legal sanction to such unions, a decision that has been a subject of intense debate and disappointment among LGBTQIA+ activists and their supporters.

In its latest ruling, the bench stated that there was “no error apparent on the face of the record” in the earlier judgment, asserting that the views expressed were consistent with the law and required no further intervention. Consequently, all petitions seeking a reconsideration of the verdict were rejected, reinforcing the court's original stance.

The review petitions were examined by a five-judge bench, which included Justices BR Gavai, Surya Kant, BV Nagarathna, PS Narasimha, and Dipankar Datta. The review was conducted privately in chambers, with no open courtroom hearing, following the procedure of internal deliberation.

Last year, the petitioners had requested an open courtroom hearing, given the public interest surrounding the issue. A new bench had been reconstituted after the retirements of Justices SK Kaul, S. Ravindra Bhat, and former Chief Justice U.U. Lalit, along with Justice Kohli. Notably, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who is currently the Chief Justice, recused himself from the matter last year.


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