Rajasthan, AP, Assam against same-sex marriage: Centre to SC

The Union government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court it has received responses from seven states on the issue of same-sex marriage and the governments of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Assam have opposed granting legal validation for such wedlock.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told a five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that states like Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Sikkim have said the issue needed a "very intense and expansive debate" and they would not be able to submit their responses immediately.

In an affidavit filed in the apex court earlier, the government had said it had issued a letter on April 18 to all states inviting comments and views on the "seminal issue" raised in these petitions.

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"At the outset, I had said that we have written letters to the state governments. There are seven responses, I am not reading them, from Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam, Sikkim and Rajasthan. I am placing them on record," Mehta told the bench, which also comprised Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha, on Wednesday.

"Rajasthan takes the position that we have examined it and we are opposed to the position which the petitioners are taking," he said, adding some states have said the issue needed a "very intense and expansive debate and we would not be able to respond immediately."

In his argument, Mehta maintained that the legislature has the wherewithal to regulate the fallout and the court will not be able to foresee, envisage, comprehend, and thereafter deal with the fallout of any declaration of marriage.

The hearing on the ninth day remained inconclusive and will continue on Thursday.