Allahabad HC rejects 2 women's plea to recognise their 'marriage'

The Allahabad high court has rejected a plea to recognise a marriage between two women on the grounds that it was against Indian culture and religion.

It said that allowing such marriages would be detrimental to various laws in the country which had been made keeping in mind males and females.

A bench of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav passed the order a few days ago while disposing of a petition by the mother of one of the girls, who had alleged that her daughter had been kidnapped by another woman.

The two women, who appeared before the court, contended that they were adults and were in love with each other and also that they had entered into wedlock. They also produced a marriage agreement before the court. The couple cited a judgement of the supreme court and contended further that the apex court had said that relation between the persons of same sex was not a crime.

The duo also pleaded that the Hindu Marriage Act talked about marriage between two persons and had not opposed marriage between the persons of same sex.

The UP government counsels, however, opposed the plea of the duo and said that Hindu marriage was a sacred bond in which the male and the female took a pledge before God and fire that they would spend the rest of their lives together and would share each other's pains and pleasures.

It was submitted that there were 16 kinds of 'sanskaras' according to the Sanatan Dharma which included giving birth to children and also performing the last rites. "In the absence of birth of a child, none of the sanskaras can be performed. Such a couple cannot have children and so such a marriage can not be recognised," it was submitted.

The court, after hearing both the parties, rejected the plea to recognise the marriage of the same-sex couple.

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