Kumar Bahukhandi
Supreme Court of India – Photo : Social Media
The appeal for review of the Supreme Court’s order on gay marriage has been rejected. A bench of five judges in the Supreme Court has given this verdict. According to reports, the Supreme Court said that the order passed earlier is completely justified, so there is no need for interference in it.
New Delhi : The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal to reconsider the earlier order on gay marriage. The bench of the apex court said, the decision on which the appeal has been made for reconsideration is correct according to the law. The court does not see any need for reconsideration in this. Therefore, interference in the previous order is not appropriate. In the case, the bench of Justice BR Gavai, Justice Suryakant, Justice BV Nagarathna, Justice PV Narasimha and Justice Dipankar Dutta gave this verdict. The bench said in the case that they did not find any error on record in their previous decision.
‘Opinion according to law, no need for interference’
In its order after the chamber proceedings, the bench said that we have carefully read the judgments given by S Ravindra Bhat (former judge) for himself and Justice Hima Kohli (former judge) and the concurring opinion given by one of us (Justice Narasimha). This was the opinion of the majority. The bench said that the opinion given in both the decisions is according to the law and as such no interference is required. Therefore, the review petitions are dismissed. The bench also rejected the application to list the review petitions in open court. A group of petitions related to this case were considered in the chamber of the judges.
According to the rules of the Supreme Court, review petitions are considered in the chamber without circulation of documents and presence of counsel on behalf of the judges. The apex court had earlier refused to allow hearing of review petitions in open court. The new bench was constituted after the current CJI Justice Sanjiv Khanna recused himself from hearing the review petitions on July 10, 2024.
Four of the five judges have retired
Justice PS Narasimha was the only member of the original five-judge Constitution bench as former CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices SK Kaul, Ravindra Bhat and Hima Kohli have retired. The five-judge Constitution bench headed by then CJI Chandrachud had on October 17, 2024 refused to legalise gay marriages. However, the apex court had strongly advocated for the rights of LGBTQIA persons so that they do not face discrimination in accessing goods and services available to others.
