India same-sex marriage debate: Parliament, not court, is the best place, says top Modi minister

An influential minister in the government of Narendra Modi in India on Friday (21) said that the country's parliament and not the court of law is the best place to debate the issue of same-sex marriage.

The remark comes at a time when the Supreme Court of India is hearing petitions seeking legalisation of such marriages.

The Modi government has been opposed to the appeals, some made by gay couples, saying they represented "urban elitist views" and that such marriages are not "comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife and children".

Bhupender Yadav, a minister of the cabinet who has the portfolios of labour and employment and environment, said in an opinion piece in the Hindustan Times newspaper published on Friday, "Any debate over which union constitutes a marriage is, in essence, a legislative function and should not be a matter of judicial adjudication."

A five-judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has been hearing the case's arguments, which are live-streamed, since Tuesday (18). The court has given a number of observations that have stormed the front-page headlines and triggered intense social media debates.

"The issue of marriage concerns society and society's opinion on this issue cannot be excluded. The voice of society is best reflected in parliament..." Yadav, who is also a general secretary of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and represented India in key climate summits such as COP, said.

Earlier in the week, the Modi government told the court that it would seek views of India's states on the matter since marriage is a state subject.

In 2018, the top court decriminalised homosexuality in a historic verdict by banning a colonial-era ban on gay sex.