The Constitutional Case for Same-Sex Marriage in India with Special Reference to Supriyo v. Union of India

In India, the question of homosexuality is one that has oft been considered by courts – from Naz Foundation to Suresh Kumar Koushal – a question that finally found its answer in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India with the decriminalisation of homosexuality. With the recent case of Supriyo v. Union of India, the matter of same-sex marriages has come to the forefront of consideration, where the court had to contend with the legal implications of such a seminal step. Marriage as a subject is dealt with under various religious laws, where the Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis depend on the Hindu Marriage Act, the Muslims draw from their own uncodified personal laws, the Christians look towards the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and for all other purposes, there exists the Special Marriage Act (hereinafter referred to as ‘the SMA’). This judgment challenged the validity of Section 4(c) of the SMA, which laid out the marriageable ages for a male and a female, thus solidifying the act of marriage to be solely between a man and a woman.