India’s top court has refused to legalize same-sex marriage, leaving the decision to Parliament.
The five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, delivered its verdict on Tuesday after hearing arguments in April and May.
The court’s decision responded to more than a dozen petitions filed since last year.
Chandrachud said there was a degree of “agreement and a degree of disagreement about how far we should go” on same-sex marriage, adding that four of the five justices had written separate judgments, reflecting the complexity of the case.
The court left it to a government-suggested panel to address the “humane concerns” of same-sex couples.
The court should also consider giving same-sex couples access to services and facilities such as joint bank accounts and pensions, which they are currently barred from.
Members of the LGBTQ community were seen leaving the courtroom in tears after the verdict.
“I didn’t expect it to be a very good judgment, but it feels much worse than expected,” said Uday Raj Anand, who along with his same-sex partner, was a petitioner in the case.
“What I had thought was that at least the court would make its position clear, say it is not in a position to make or change the law, but they would certainly direct the government to do it,” he said.
“So it feels kind of shocking to not even have achieved that much.”
In Asia, only Taiwan and Nepal have legalized same-sex marriage. Activists say that while the 2018 ruling that struck down the ban on gay sex affirmed their constitutional rights, it was unfair that they still lack legal support for unions, a basic right enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.
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