Same-sex marriage case before Supreme Court: How long the lawyers for the petitioners will tentatively argue for

The Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing a batch of petitions seeking recognition of same-sex marriage in India.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud along with Justices SK Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, PS Narasimha and Hima Kohli are hearing the matter.

The batch of petitions argue that the right to marry a person of one’s choice - as has been upheld by the apex court on several occasions - should extend to LGBTQIA+ citizens as well.

As reported earlier, there are as many as 20 main petitions challenging, among other things, provisions of the Special Marriage Act that act as a barrier to the recognition of same-sex marriage.

A document recently circulated how much time each lawyer for each of the petitioners will take to argue their case.

1. Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty vs Union of India along with 2. Udit Sood & ors vs Union of India challenges the Special Marriage Act.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi had sought 4 hours to argue. His arguments are now concluded.

3. Parth Phiroze Mehrotra vs Union of India challenges the Special Marriage Act.

Senior Advocate Saurabh Kirpal - 45 minutes.

4. Dr Kavita Arora vs Union of India and 5. Aditi Anand and Anr vs Union of India challenges the Special Marriage Act.

Advocate Arundhati Katju - 1 hour 30 minutes.

6. Sameer Samudra vs Union of India along with 7. Nitin Karani & Anr vs Union of India challenges the Foreign Marriage Act, the Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act.

Senior Advocate Anand Grover - 1 hour.

8. Nibedita Dutta & anr vs Union of India challenges the Hindu Marriage Act.

Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy - 1 hour 30 minutes.

9. Utkarsh Saxena vs Union of India challenges the Special Marriage Act and the Foreign Marriage Act.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi - 5 hours.

10. Zainab J Patel vs Union of India challenges the rights of transgender persons to marry under all matrimonial laws.

Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan - 1 hour 45 minutes

11. Mellissa Ferrier & Anr vs Union of India along with 12. Joydeep Sengupta vs Union of India challenges the Foreign Act, the Special Marriage Act and the Citizenship Act.

Advocate Karuna Nundy - 1 hour 30 minutes.

13. Vaibhav Jain & anr vs Union of India challenges the Foreign Marriage Act.

Senior Advocate Geeta Luthra - 1 hour 30 minutes.

14. Nikesh PP & Anr vs Union of India challenges the Special Marriage Act.

Advocate Manu Srinath - 10 minutes.

15. Abhijit Iyer Mitra vs Union of India challenges the Hindu Marriage Act.

Advocate Raghav Awasthi - 30 minutes.

Advocate Namit Saxena - 10 minutes.

16. Kajal & anr vs Union of India challenges the Special Marriage Act.

Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran - 2 hours.

17. Amburi Roy vs Union of India challenges the Foreign Marriage Act and Adoption Regulations, 2022.

Senior Advocate Anitha Shenoy - 1 hour.

18. Dr Akkai Padmashali vs Union of India challenges the Rights of transgender persons to marry under the Special Marriage Act.

Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari - 20 minutes.

19. Rituparna Bohra vs Union of India challenges the Special Marriage Act.

Advocate Vrinda Grover - 1 hour 15 minutes.

20. Harish Iyer vs Union of India challenges the Special Marriage Act

Advocate Shivam Singh - 20 minutes.