Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

India's top court refuses legal status for same-sex marriage

The court’s ruling held that the fundamental right to marriage for same-sex couples was not guaranteed by India’s constitution under existing law

India's top court refuses legal status for same-sex marriage

India's top court on Tuesday (17) declined to legalise same-sex marriages. However, it emphasised the country's responsibility to recognise LGBTQ relationships and safeguard them against discrimination.

The government has opposed moves to legally codify same-sex partnerships in the five years since the Supreme Court struck down colonial-era laws banning gay sex.


Lawyers for several same-sex couples urged the court earlier this year to grant their relationships full legal recognition, but the five-member bench ruled that extending marriage equality was a parliamentary decision.

"It lies within the domain of parliament and state legislatures to determine the law on marriage," Supreme Court Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said during his verdict.

The court's ruling held that the fundamental right to marriage for same-sex couples was not guaranteed by India's constitution under existing law.

It did grant marriage rights to couples where one or both members were transgender, provided one participant in the union identified as a man and the other as a woman.

Chandrachud added that India still had a duty to acknowledge same-sex relationships and protect those in them from discrimination.

"Our ability to feel love and affection for one another makes us feel human," he said from the bench.

"This court has recognised that equality demands that queer unions and queer persons are not discriminated against."

The verdict was greeted with sadness and disappointment by a crowd gathered outside the court who had hoped to celebrate India becoming the second Asian jurisdiction after Taiwan to legalise same-sex marriages.

"We are not satisfied with whatever the court has said", Siddhant Kumar, 27, told AFP.

"This has been going on for years, we have been struggling for legal recognition," he added. "We have to remain strong and continue our fight."

The petitioners had said validating same-sex marriage would help them access some of the legal benefits of matrimony, including adoption, insurance and inheritance.

- 'Complete havoc' -

But Narendra Modi's government has staunchly opposed same-sex marriage, and insisted that any change was up to parliament and not the courts.

"Any interference... would cause a complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country and in accepted societal values", the government said in its submission.

"Living together as partners and having sexual relationship by same sex individuals... is not comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children", it added.

Siddhant Rai, 20, who was among the crowd outside the court, said he did not expect any official endorsement of same-sex marriage under Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"I am disheartened by today's ruling," he told AFP. "As long as the BJP is there in power, I don't see a judgement coming in our favour in the near future."

Marriages are governed by family laws for specific religions, such as the Muslim Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act.

A landmark ruling in 2018 struck down the British colonial-era law criminalising gay sex, and last year the court ruled that unmarried partners or same-sex couples were entitled to welfare benefits.

Acceptance of gay couples grew in the wake of the 2018 ruling. A Pew survey in June suggested 53 per cent of Indian adults favoured same-sex marriage while 43 per cent opposed it.

But leaders from all of India's main religions -- Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Sikh and Christian -- also oppose same sex union, with several of them insisting that marriage "is for procreation, not recreation".

More than 30 countries allow same-sex marriage while others recognise same-sex civil unions.

While much of Asia is tolerant of homosexuality, Taiwan became the first in the region to allow gay marriage after a landmark ruling by its Constitutional Court in 2017.

Vietnam, Thailand and Nepal have also taken steps towards the recognition of same-sex partnerships.

(AFP)

More For You

Covid inquiry begins probe into care home deaths

FILE PHOTO: A mother and daughter sit atop the Covid memorial wall on September 9, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Covid inquiry begins probe into care home deaths

THE Covid inquiry has started examining how the pandemic affected care services for older and disabled people, with families describing the crisis as one of the worst failures of the pandemic.

Nearly 46,000 care home residents died with Covid in England and Wales between March 2020 and January 2022, with many deaths happening in the first weeks of the outbreak.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer and Glastonbury condemn anti-Israel chants by Bob Vylan

Keir Starmer speaks to members of the media during a visit to RAF Valley, on Anglesey in north-west Wales, on June 27, 2025. PAUL CURRIE/Pool via REUTERS

Starmer and Glastonbury condemn anti-Israel chants by Bob Vylan

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer and Glastonbury organisers said on Sunday (29) they were appalled by on-stage chanting against the Israeli military during a performance at the festival by Punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.

During their show on Saturday (28), the duo chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in reference to the Israel Defense Forces, the formal name of the Israeli military.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pakistan floods

A flooded street near Station Road after heavy rainfall in Hyderabad, Pakistan, on June 27, 2025.

Getty

Pakistan reports 45 deaths from flash floods and rain in monsoon onset

AT LEAST 45 people have died in Pakistan over the past few days due to flash flooding and heavy rainfall since the beginning of the monsoon season, according to disaster management officials on Sunday.

The highest number of deaths was reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. There, 21 people were killed, including 10 children.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK Weather Alert: June Heatwave to Hit 34°C, Breaking Records

The UK is bracing for potentially one of the hottest June days on record

iStock

UK set for one of the hottest June days with highs of 34°C

Key points

  • Temperatures may hit 34°C in Greater London and Bedfordshire
  • Amber alert in place across five regions due to health risks
  • Wimbledon’s opening day to be hottest on record
  • Risk of wildfires in London labelled “severe”
  • Scotland and Northern Ireland remain cooler

Hottest June day in years expected as second UK heatwave peaks

The UK is bracing for potentially one of the hottest June days on record, with temperatures expected to reach 34°C on Monday (30 June). The ongoing heatwave, now in its fourth day, is most intense across the South and East of England, particularly in Greater London and Bedfordshire.

Although there is a small chance of temperatures hitting 35°C, they are unlikely to surpass the all-time June record of 35.6°C set in 1976.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India flight crash
Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
Getty Images

Probing all angles in Air India crash, including sabotage: Minister

INDIA’s junior civil aviation minister said on Sunday that all possible angles, including sabotage, were being looked into as part of the investigation into the Air India crash.

All but one of the 242 people on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner were killed when it crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. Authorities have identified 19 others who died on the ground. However, a police source told AFP after the crash that the death toll on the ground was 38.

Keep ReadingShow less