The Delhi High Court on Friday, 8 January, adjourned the batch of petitions it is hearing for legalisation of same-sex marriages to 25 February as the Centre has not yet filed its affidavit responding to the petitions.
Back in October and November 2020, the high court had issued notice to the Centre on three pleas regarding the legalisation of same-sex marriages. A bench of Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Sanjeev Narula was supposed to hear the petitions on Friday, but adjourned them to give the Centre time for its replies.
One petition, filed by members of the LGBT community Abhijit Iyer Mitra, Gopi Shankar, G Oorvasi and Giti Thadani, argues that the conception of marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) allows for same-sex marriages.
“Section 5 of the Act clearly lays down that marriage can be performed between ‘any two Hindus’ under the Act,” the petitioners contend.