In the situation that petitioners are unable to hire legal representation or travel to Delhi, the SC Bench also granted them the freedom to appear on a virtual platform and forward their arguments
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on January 6, transferred to itself the High Court’s pending petitions of recognition of ‘Same-Sex Marriage.’ The matter was listed before Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha.
In the situation that petitioners are unable to hire legal representation or travel to Delhi, the SC Bench also granted them the freedom to appear on a virtual platform and forward their arguments. The batch of petitions is now listed for 13th March 2023.
The counsels informed the bench right away that, in addition to the main petition, there were a number of other petitions that needed to be transferred to the Supreme Court because they were pending before various high courts, including the High Court of Delhi, the High Court of Gujarat, and the High Court of Kerala.
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CJI Chandrachud while dictating the order said, “Since several petitions are pending before diverse high courts on the same subject, we direct to transfer all petitions before this court. To obviate any difficulty to a petitioner who cannot engage a counsel or travel to Delhi, all the petitioners are provided the liberty to appear on a virtual platform and advance their submissions. Link to be provided to any who asks for the same. Notice to be issued to central agencies. Counter affidavits are to be filed by 15th Feb 2023. List for directions on March 13th.”
The bench appointed Advocate Arundhati Katju as a lawyer for petitioners and Advocate Kanu Agarwal on behalf of the Union of India. The SC requested them to prepare a compilation of precedents, documents, and legislation on the matter.
The batch included a PIL filed by Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang. They had been together for about ten years, and in December 2021, they had a commitment ceremony where their parents, relatives, and friends blessed their union. They now want the Special Marriage Act to recognize their marriage.
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