A notice in a plea has been issued by the Delhi High Court seeking registration of same-sex marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act. The notice has been issued to the Union of India which was also directed to file a counter-affidavit in four weeks by the division bench of Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Justice Asha Menon. This order has come in a plea which is moved by Abhijit Iyer Mitra who sought registration of marriages of LGBTQIA couples under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
During today’s hearing, the petitioner argued that the language used in the Hindu Marriage Act is gender-neutral, and it doesn’t explicitly prohibit the marriages of same-sex couples. The petitioner further argued that, in absence of any explicit prohibition, the marriages of homosexuals should be permitted to be registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and Foreign Marriage Act, 1969 as well.
While issuing this notice, the Court also noted that a similar case is already pending which seeks marriage equality for same-sex couples under the Special Marriage Act. Hence, the Court decided to hear both the cases on 14 January 2021.
