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New Delhi, October 17 (IANS) After the Supreme Court gave four judgments in the same-sex marriage case, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said that the Congress has been studying the different and differing judgments delivered in the apex court, and will have a detailed response subsequently.
"Indian National Congress has always stood with all our citizens to protect their freedoms, choices, liberties and rights. We, as a party of inclusion, firmly believe in non-discriminatory processes -- judicial, social, and political," he said in a tweet on the microblogging website 'X'.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud refused to grant any legal sanction to same-sex marriage.
The Constitution Bench, also comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, S.R. Bhat, Hima Kohli, and P.S. Narasimha, held that queer couples do not have an unqualified right to marriage.
The four judgments were written by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice SK Kaul, Justice Ravindra Bhat, and Justice P.S. Narasimha, respectively.
Of the five judges on the Constitutional Bench, the majority judgments delivered by 3 judges -- Justice Ravindra Bhat, Justice Hima Kohli, and Justice PS Narasimha held that civil unions between same-sex couples are not recognised under law and they cannot claim the right to adopt children either.
In two separate minority judgments, CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice Kaul ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to recognise their relationships as civil unions and can claim consequential benefits.
Both the judges held that such couples have the right to adopt children and struck down Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) regulations to enable the same.
The court asked the Centre to set up a high-powered committee to be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary to take steps to decide the rights and social entitlements of same-sex couples.
The top court held that courts cannot make law and can only interpret it. It refused to accept the petitioners' contention that in the Special Marriage Act (SMA), wherever 'husband' and 'wife' is used, it can be made gender neutral by using 'spouse', and 'man' and 'woman' should be substituted by 'person'.
