Same-Sex Marriage Hearing: 'Not True That Gay, Lesbian Couples Can't Adopt,' SC Tells Centre

As the five-member bench of the Supreme Court hears petitions seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages, the Centre on Wednesday argued that the pleas reflected the "urban elitist views for the purpose of social acceptance". Advocates appearing for the petitioners pointed out marital status was also a gateway to several other legal benefits such as tax benefits, inheritance and adoption. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud observed that it was a misconception that gay and lesbian couples cannot adopt. 

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for one of the petitioners, argued that adoption, surrogacy, interstate succession, tax exemption, tax deductions all simply require marriage. “Obviously I don't marry because I want a tax benefit but it is a gateway to some important things,” he said, as reported by Bar and Bench.

To this, CJI said that as the law stands, any one of them can adopt. 

“Incidentally, as the law stands today, even if a couple is in a gay relationship or a lesbian relationship, one of them can adopt. So the argument that it will have a psychological impact on the child is denied by the fact that even today, as the law stands…once you have decriminalised homosexuality, it is open," he observed, as per the report.

"It's just that the child loses the benefits of parenthood of both the parents.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) moved the Supreme Court against the legalisation of same-sex marriages. The child rights body said children raised by same-sex parents may have a limited exposure to the traditional gender role models.

Seeking the top court's intervention in a batch of petitions, the commission said the Hindu Marriage Act and the Juvenile Justice Act do not recognise adoption by same-sex couples. "Allowing adoption to same-sex couples is akin to endangering the children," the commission said in its plea.

The top court has made it clear that it will not go into personal laws governing marriages while deciding the pleas seeking legal validation for same-sex marriages. It also asserted that the very notion of a man and a woman, as referred to in the Special Marriage Act, was not "an absolute based on genitals".     

The outcome will have significant ramifications for the country where common people and political parties hold divergent views on the subject.

Successive Indian governments have repeatedly challenged any calls to recognise same-sex marriages, saying that allowing so would harm the social fabric and cultural ethos of India. Recently, the BJP-led government said the petitions represent "urban elite" views. Earlier, the Centre said in court that same-sex marriages would "create havoc" in society.