Centre tells Delhi HC India’s values don’t recognise same-sex marriage

The Centre on Monday opposed a plea seeking recognition and registration of same-sex marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1956, before the Delhi High Court. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta argued before the division bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan that India’s law and society does not ‘recognise same-sex marriage’ , adding that the Supreme Court ‘merely decriminalizes homosexuality or lesbians’. ‘Such registration if granted, would run contrary to the statutory provisions already in place’, he said. A man and a woman is essential for a marriage to not fall within degrees of the prohibited relationship under the Hindu Marriage Act.