New Delhi: During the ongoing hearings of pleas seeking recognition of same-sex marriage, a Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta if social benefits could be extended to same-sex couples without conferring legal recognition on their marital status.
"We request you to assist us on this in a non-adversarial manner," CJI Chandrachud told Mehta, counsel for the Centre.
The top court said recognition does not necessarily mean marriage, and asked whether certain social benefits could be extended to same-sex couples who are not formally married, but are living together for a long time.
The current law recognises maintenance, protection against domestic violence and other such provisions for heterosexual couples in live-in relationships.
The court also asked the Centre whether some steps involving financial security, such as allowing joint-bank accounts with partners or allowing name of partner as nominee in insurance, etc. may be allowed for couples of the same sex.
"You may not want to confer them any status, but you need to bring down the barriers," Justice Ravindra Bhat observed.
