The Supreme Court on Friday transferred to itself various petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages from various High Courts. The matter was listed before a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice PS Narasimha. While sending notice to the Central Government in this matter, the bench has also sought its reply by February 15. And now the matter will be heard on March 13.

The bench also granted liberty to petitioners in this matter to appear on virtual platform and present their arguments in case they are unable to engage a lawyer or travel to Delhi. Let us inform that the last hearing on the matter was held on 14 December 2022. During this also, the court had issued a notice to the central government and sought a response on a new petition seeking recognition of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act.

At the outset, the lawyers apprised the bench of the fact that apart from the main petition, there were several petitions which were to be transferred to the Supreme Court as they were pending before the Delhi High Court, were pending before various High Courts, including the Gujarat High Court and the Kerala High Court. While hearing the arguments of the lawyers, the Chief Justice said that since there are several petitions pending before different High Courts on the same subject, we will list all the petitions before this court. instructions to relocate. In order to remove any hardship caused to a petitioner who cannot engage a lawyer or travel to Delhi, liberty to appear is granted to all the petitioners.