Same sex marriage: Indian laws permit individual to adopt child, says SC

Indian laws permit an individual to adopt a child irrespective of marital status the Supreme Court said on Wednesday while asserting that the law recognises there may be situations apart from an ideal family having its own biological childrenIn its submission to the apex court which is hearing pleas seeking legal validation for samesex marriages child rights body NCPCR argued that the concept of gender may be fluid but not mother and motherhoodHighlighting the legal position in different statutes that the welfare of a child is paramount the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights NCPCR told a fivejudge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that it has been held in several judgements that adoption of a child is not a fundamental rightEntire architecture of our laws to protect the interest and the welfare of children who are naturally born to heterosexual persons and the State is justified in treating heterosexual and homosexuals differently Additional Solicitor General Aishwaraya Bhati appearing for NCPCR and others told the benchAlso Read Committee to be set up to explore administrative steps to address concerns of samesex couples Centre to SCShe said the welfare of children is paramountThe bench also comprising Justices S K Kaul S R Bhat Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha added that there is no issue with the proposition that the welfare of a child is paramountThe CJI observed that our laws do recognise that you can adopt for a variety of reasonsEven a single individual can adopt a child He or she may be in a single sex relationship You can adopt even if you are capable of biological birth There is no compulsion of having biological birth the CJI saidLaw recognises that there may be situations apart from this ideal family having their own biological children What happens during the pendency of heterosexual marriage and one spouse dies the bench askedThe hearing on a batch of petitions seeking legal validation for samesex marriage is continuing on the ninth day before the benchThe top court on Tuesday said it has to be alive to the fact that the concept of marriage has evolved and must accept the basic proposition that marriage itself is entitled to constitutional protection as it is not just a matter of statutory recognitionIt said it would be farfetched to argue there is no right to marry under the Constitution which itself is a tradition breakerSenior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the JamiatUlamaiHind a body of Islamic scholars Tuesday told the bench that it was a very dangerous proposition of the petitioners that the top court should make a declaration about legal validation for samesex marriage as Parliament is not likely to do anything about itI am afraid that is a very dangerous proposition It was said at the outset that we petitioners dont expect Parliament to move forward dont expect Parliament to pass such a law and therefore your lordships should do it I say that is a very dangerous route to take Sibal had saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever