The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought the Centre's response on separate pleas by two same sex couples, one seeking to get married under the Special Marriage Act (SMA) and the other seeking registration of their wedding in the US under the Foreign Marriage Act (FMA).

A bench of justices R S Endlaw and Asha Menon issued notice to the Centre and the Delhi government seeking their stand on the plea by two women seeking to get married under the SMA and challenging provisions of the statute to the extent it does not provide for same sex marriages.

The court also issued notice to the Centre and the Consulate General of India in New York on the other plea by two men who got married in the US but were denied registration of their marriage under the FMA. The bench listed both matters for hearing on January 8, 2021.

During the hearing, the bench said it has no doubts regarding maintainability of the petitions, but added that the concept of marriage emanates from the customary laws which do not recognise same sex marriages. It also said that marriage is not defined under the SMA and FMA and everyone interprets what a marriage is according to the customary laws. Read more via Economic Times