'There Are No Absolutes, As I Said, Even At The Risk Of Getting Trolled': CJI On Day Three Of Hearings On Same-Sex Marriage Case

The hearing for the matter pertaining to legalising same-sex marriages in India has been going on for the last three days in the Supreme Court.

The hearing is being live streamed on YouTube, leading to the public being updated about the day-to-day arguments. 

Here are the highlights from today's hearings.

• The CJI Chandrachud-led bench today inquired whether two spouses who belong to a binary gender are essential for marriage.

• He said, “We see these same-sex relationships not just as physical relations but something more of a stable, emotional relationship”.

• He enquired from the petitioners: "Legalising same-sex marriage requires us to redefine the evolving notion of marriage. Because is the existence of two spouses who belong to a binary gender a necessary requirement for marriage?"

• The bench also added that the law has evolved significantly in the last 69 years since the enactment of the Special Marriage Act in 1954, which provided a form of civil marriage for people who did not want to follow their personal laws.

• Referring to the judgement on decriminalisation of homosexuality, the CJI said that "we have not just recognised treating relationships between consenting adults of the same gender, but we've also recognised that people who are of the same sex would even be in stable relationships". 

• Justice Chandrachud then said that, "there are no absolutes, as I said, even at the risk of getting trolled. And what happens when there is a heterosexual couple and the child sees domestic violence? Will that child grow up in a normal atmosphere? Of a father becoming an alcoholic, coming home and thrashing the mother every night, and asking for money for alcohol."

• The respondents, led by the Solicitor General, are challenging the petition on the point that same-sex marriages are not comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children.

Further updates will be provided as and when the hearing proceeds. The case will next be heard on Monday.