The Centre has urged the Supreme Court that all States and Union Territories be made parties to the proceedings on the pleas seeking legal validation for same-sex marriages. In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Centre has said it has issued a letter yesterday to all the States inviting comments and views on the “seminal issue” raised in the pleas.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, requested a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that States be made parties to the proceedings. The apex court had on 25th November last year sought the Centre’s response to separate pleas moved by two gay couples seeking enforcement of their right to marry and a direction to the authorities concerned to register their marriages under the Special Marriage Act.