The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain pleas seeking a direction to the Centre to frame religion and gender-neutral uniform laws governing subjects such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and alimony, saying it cannot direct Parliament to “enact the law”.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala took note of the submissions of the solicitor general that the issue fell under the domain of the legislature and hence the pleas cannot be entertained.
“This issue exclusively falls under the domain of the legislature and a writ of mandamus cannot be issued to Parliament (to enact laws),” said the bench while disposing of pleas including PILs filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, who had filed five petitions seeking direction to the Centre to frame religion and gender-neutral uniform laws for divorce, adoption, guardianship, succession, inheritance, maintenance, marriage age, and alimony.
Former HC judges oppose same-sex marriage
Meanwhile, a group of former judges of high courts on Wednesday issued an open letter saying that the legalisation of same-sex marriage in India will have a devastating impact on society at large.
“We are a group of former judges, the conscientious and concerned citizens of India, having been exasperated and agonised over the continuous onslaught against the basic tenets of Bharatiya marriage traditions and family system by vested interest groups, write to you to draw your kind attention towards one such issue — legalisation of same-sex marriage,” the letter said.
The letter said the issue is being considered by the Supreme Court and has gained momentum in the recent past in the country after being referred to a Constitution Bench.
Marriage, family system in India 'sui generis'
The group of former judges said the marriage as well as the family system in India is sui generis. They opined that legalising same-sex marriage will strike at the very root of the family system and thus will have a devastating impact on society at large.
A hasty judicial intervention is unfortunate, and totally unwarranted, stated the letter.
“It is our opinion that such a sensitive issue concerning the society at large be debated in Parliament and state legislatures as well. Even before bringing such kind of law, the opinion of the society must be obtained to ensure that the law represents the wish of the society and does not fulfill the desire of few elite sections of the society,” read the letter by the former judges.
The 21 signatories of the open letter include former Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court Justice (retired) SN Jha, Justice (retd) MM Kumar, former Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Gujarat Lokayukta Justice (retd) SM Soni and Justice (retd) SN Dhingra.
