States free to enact laws recognising same-sex marriage in absence of central law: Supreme Court

In what could be an observation of significant implications, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that State legislatures are free to enact laws recognizing and regulating same-sex marriage in the absence of any central law made by the parliament governing such relationships..While the judges of the top court refused to recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry, both the majority and the minority decisions concurred that State legislatures can take a call in the absence of Central legislation since the Constitution grants both States and and the parliament the power to enact laws with respect to marriage..Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Hima Kohli in the postscript of the majority judgment said that State legislatures can also take action for recognizing the marriages of queer persons."The State may choose from a number of policy outcomes; they may make all marriage and family related laws gender neutral, or they may create a separate SMA-like statute in gender neutral terms to give the queer community an avenue for marriage, they may pass an Act creating civil unions, or a domestic partnership legislation, among many other alternatives. Another consequence may be that rather than the Union Government, the State legislatures takes action and enacts law or frameworks, in the absence of a central law," the judgment said..Same-sex marriage: What the majority judgment of the Supreme Court held.In the minority judgment, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said,“Under Articles 245 and 246 of the Constitution read with Entry 5 of List III to the Seventh Schedule, it lies within the domain of Parliament and the state legislatures to enact laws recognizing and regulating queer marriage.”.CJI Chandrachud also noted that State legislatures have made amendments to Central laws on marriage with the assent of the President since the subject is in the concurrent list.“Entry 5 of the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution grants both the State legislature and Parliament the power to enact laws with respect to marriage,” CJI Chandrachud explained..WATCH| Highlights of the minority and majority verdict in the marriage equality case:.[Read Judgment]