SC reserves verdict on legalizing same-sex marriage

The bench had observed that everyone was presuming that the declaration would be in the form of a writ

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriage.

A five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha wrapped up the hearing, which continued for 10 days.

On Thursday, the court heard the rejoinder arguments by senior advocates, A M Singhvi, Raju Ramachandran, K V Viswanathan, Anand Grover and Saurabh Kirpal, on behalf of the petitioners.

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The Centre had vehemently opposed the plea, saying allowing the petitoners' contention would cause havoc in the realm of personal laws. It also maintained the subject can be handled by the legislature only due to its massive repercussions.

The central government on Wednesday told the court that seven states have responded on the issue of same-sex marriage and Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Assam have opposed the petitioners' contention seeking legal sanction for such marriages.