LI Network
Published on: November 02, 2023 at 17:58 IST
A review petition has been officially submitted to the Supreme Court, contesting a recent judgment handed down by a Constitution Bench that denied legal recognition to same-sex couples.
Udit Sood, one of the original petitioners, filed the review petition under Article 137 of the Constitution, alleging that the decision rendered on October 17 is “inherently contradictory and blatantly unjust.”
The review plea argues that the majority judgment is fundamentally flawed as it acknowledges the government’s violation of the petitioners’ fundamental rights through discrimination but fails to take action against this discrimination.
In its ruling issued on October 17, a five-judge bench, led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, chose not to eliminate or replace the terms “male” and “female” with a gender-neutral designation like “person” in the existing Special Marriage Act.
The highest court left the decision regarding enacting a marriage equality law to the legislature’s discretion. All five judges on the Constitution Bench unanimously concurred that an absolute right to marriage does not exist and embraced the proposal put forward by the Central government, which suggests the establishment of a committee, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, to explore administrative measures addressing basic social benefits for same-sex couples.
Nevertheless, the court directed both the Union and state governments to ensure that the LGBTQ+ community does not face discrimination based on sexual orientation and that queer individuals are not denied access to goods and services.
Rohin Bhatt, a prominent LGBTQ+ advocate and Supreme Court lawyer, noted that there are limited grounds, such as legal errors and evident mistakes in the record, available for requesting a review of a decision made on its merits.