Centre opposes same-sex marriage

NEW DELHI: Marriage in India can be recognised only if it is between a “biological man” and a “biological woman” capable of producing children, said Centre to Delhi High Court on Thursday.

 

Centre has opposed pleas to recognise same-sex marriage under the special marriage act.

The response of the Centre comes after 4 more individuals belonging to the gay and lesbian community urged the Delhi High Court on Thursday to declare that the Special Marriage Act (SMA) solemnises marriages between any two individuals regardless of their gender

 

In its affidavit filed in the Delhi High Court in pleas seeking to recognise same-sex marriage, centre states that marriage is not only a private concept but also a socially recognised institution with its own public significance.

 

It further stated that despite the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Petitioners cannot claim a fundamental right for same-sex marriage.

 

The institution of marriage has a sacrament attached to it, and it is regarded as a sacrament in most parts of the world. In our country, marriage inevitably depends on age-old traditions, rituals, practises, cultural ethos and social values, despite statutory recognition of the marriage relationship between a biological man and a biological woman.

 

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Centre on why it opposes same sex marriage said that in India marriage and family institutions are important social institutions that ensure the protection, support and companionship of members of our society and play an important role in the upbringing and mental and psychological upbringing of children.

 

It is argued that the celebration of a marriage gives rise not only to legal but also moral and social obligations, in particular the mutual duty to support partners and their shared responsibility to support and raise children born from marriage and to ensure their proper mental and psychological development in the most natural way possible.

 

The Division Bench of Justices Amit Bansal and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw has listed the cases for further hearing on April 20.