Same-Sex Marriage: SC Delays Review Plea After Justice Sanjiv Khanna Recuses From Hearing

The Supreme Court postponed a review petition challenging the October 2023 judgment that queer couples cannot enjoy the fundamental right to marriage, with Justice Sanjeev Khanna recusing from proceedings in the case due to personal reasons. The development effectively means that Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud will have to reconstitute the five-judge constitutional bench assigned to hear the petition.

The review petition is seeking that the judgment be set aside, which is hotly debated and criticized all over for allegedly depriving the LGBTQ+ couples of their rights in India. The judgment last October held that to recognize same-sex marriage as a fundamental right in Indian law would be an infringement upon the existing legal system.

Justice Khanna recused, and and so the chronological run of this highly contentious issue at the very core of LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms dragged on longer. Activists fighting for LGBTQ+ rights expressed disappointment over the delay but welcomed the possibility of a positive outcome in any future court proceedings.

CJI Chandrachud is shortly going to declare the new bench composition so that legal deliberations over this important issue can go on uninterrupted.