Same-sex marriage hearing | Supreme Court says ready to ‘play facilitator’ to push Centre to ease social welfare benefits for partners

The Supreme Court said it is ready to play the role of a “facilitator” to push the government into taking administrative steps to bring down “barriers” and ease the day-to-day human concerns faced by cohabiting same-sex partners without touching upon the issue of legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it is ready to play the role of a “facilitator” to push the government into taking administrative steps to bring down “barriers” and ease the day-to-day human concerns faced by cohabiting same-sex partners in areas like joint banking, insurance and admissions of children to schools without touching upon the issue of legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

The seventh day of court hearing of petitions seeking legal status for same-sex marriages witnessed a sharp diversion on the part of a Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.

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The petitioners have sought a judicial declaration of nothing less than a “full marriage” status for same-sex couples. However, the court said “we don’t want to go for an all-or-broke approach”.

The turning point came with the government’s “very powerful” — by the Bench’s own admission — arguments that the court would encroach into the legislative arena by giving legal status to same-sex marriages and it would create chaos considering the fact that many statutes, including diverse personal laws, were designed solely for heterosexual marriages.

The court, at one point, conscious of semantics, suggested labels like “contract” and “partnership” rather than “marriage” to describe same-sex unions.

“We understand our limitations as a court. No question about it. But there are so many problems faced by same-sex couples which your Ministries, on the administrative side, can find real solutions… We can act as a facilitator to achieve these solutions. The relationship between the court and the government need not be adversarial… We are just pushing the government. We may not have a model with us, and it is not appropriate for us to devise that model… We can only tell the government that our social ethos have gone forward and can you find a solution for them,” Chief Justice Chandrachud addressed the government.