The Supreme Court on Friday transferred to itself petitions pending in various High Courts seeking legal recognition of same sex marriage. A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said there was broad consensus among the petitioners to shift the cases to the Supreme Court for an authoritative ruling on the issue, especially on the question whether same sex marriage should be brought within the ambit of the Special Marriage Act of 1954.
Batches of petitions were pending before the Delhi, Kerala and Gujarat High Courts.
The Bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, directed the Centre to file its response to the petitions on or before February 15. The court listed the case for directions on March 13.
The Bench asked the parties to submit common compilations of arguments and judgments they want to place before the court during arguments for speedy and efficient adjudication. It appointed advocates Arundhati Katju, for the petitioners, and advocate Kanu Agarwal, for the Union, as nodal counsel to coordinate the preparations for the court hearing.
One of the petitions filed by Supriya Chakraborty and Abhay Dang said the non-recognition of same sex marriage amounted to discrimination that struck at the root of dignity and self-fulfilment of LBTQ+ couples. A separate petition was also filed by Parth Phiroze Mehrotra and Uday Raj Anand.
The court issued notice in a separate petition filed by Utkarsh Saxena and Ananya Kotia challenging the mandatory requirement to issue public notice and objection to marriage contemplated under the Special Marriage Act and the Foreign Marriage Act. They argued that the provisions expose same sex couples to the risks of ostracism, persecution, and violence.
The petitioners had argued that the case was a sequel to the 2018 Constitution Bench judgment in the Navtej Johar case in which homosexuality was de-criminalised. The petitioners said the 1954 Act should grant same sex couples the same protection it allowed inter-caste and inter-faith couples who want to marry.
They said they did not want to interfere with individual personal laws but only seek to make the 1954 Act gender-neutral. The petitioners argued that 15 legislations which guaranteed the rights of wages, gratuity, adoption, surrogacy, etc., were not available to the LGBTQ+ citizens.
Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, for the petitioners, had argued that the fundamental issue here was “how do I protect my family?”
“The Special Marriage Act of 1954 ought to apply to a marriage between any two persons, regardless of their gender identity and sexual orientation,” a petition said.
If not, the Act, in its present form, should be declared violative of the fundamental rights to a dignified life and equality as “it does not provide for solemnisation of marriage between same sex couple”.
Economy expected to grow at 7% in 2022-23, says government data
India’s real GDP is expected to grow 7% in 2022-23, compared to 8.7% in 2021-22, as per the First Advance Estimates of GDP from the National Statistical Office. The estimate is arrived by using limited data, and serves as an essential input to the Union Budget formulation exercise.
The Gross Value Added (GVA) in the economy is expected to rise 6.7% this year, compared to 8.1% in 2021-22, with trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to Broadcasting recording the highest GVA expansion of 13.7%.
Manufacturing and Mining GVA is estimated to grow just 1.6% and 2.4% in 2022-23, compared to 9.9% and 11.5, respectively last year, but agriculture GVA is expected to grow faster at 3.5% from 3% in the previous year.
Construction sector’s GVA is reckoned to grow 9.1% through the year, with Electricity, Gas, Water and other utilities rising 9%. Financial, Real Estate and Professional Services’ GVA is expected to grow 6.4% in 2022-23, from 4.2% in 2021-22.
GVA from Public administration, Defense and Other services (which include health, education, recreation and other personal services is expected to grow 7.9%, compared to 12.6% in 2021-22.
Delhi Mayoral elections postponed after clashes erupt between AAP and BJP
The Mayoral elections at the first House meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have been postponed after clashes erupted between AAP and BJP councillors. A senior MCD official said that a new date will be announced but the timeline remains unclear.
Chaos ensued during the first meeting as AAP councillors and MLAs raised slogans and entered the Well when BJP councilor Satya Sharma, the presiding officer, began the process of administering oaths to the 10 aldermen.
The AAP councillors and MLAs protested over the alderman and not the elected representatives being administered oath first. The BJP councillors retaliated by raising slogans against AAP and its convener Arvind Kejriwal. Amid the chaos, both sides also alleged manhandling by the opposite camp.
The meeting began with Sharma being administered the oath as presiding officer for the elections to the posts of MCD mayor and deputy mayor. After Sharma invited alderman Manoj Kumar to take oath, AAP MLAs and councillors began to protest. Many also rushed to the well of the House, shouting slogans.
In the melee, the oathtaking was stopped and the meeting disrupted as the AAP councillors stood on the tables, including those of the presiding officer. The BJP councillors also gathered around and exchanged heated words with their AAP counterparts.
“The House was adjourned for one hour. Four aldermen took their oaths. We will resume the meeting soon and the rest of the aldermen will take their oaths first,” Sharma told PTI.
Terming the development unfortunate, Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva wondered why the AAP is worried if it has the majority. “Let the nominated councillors take oath, let the elections happen and everything will become clear,” he said.
The BJP chief also said that about 5-7 party councillors have been injured, while one has serious injuries who is being taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. “They have attacked our councillors with blades, pieces of glass and chairs. We will file an FIR against AAP leaders,” he added.
Amazon to lay off around 1,000 staff in India
E-commerce company Amazon plans to lay off around 1,000 employees in India as part of its biggest retrenchment exercise across the globe, according to sources. The company has announced the elimination of over 18,000 roles across the globe due to uncertain economic conditions.
“The decision to eliminate 18,000 job roles across the globe will impact about 1,000 employees in India,” the source said. Another source said Amazon has 1 lakh employees in India and the decision will impact 1 per cent of staff in the country.
When contacted, an Amazon India spokesperson did not offer any comment but shared the blog link of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy where he has announced the company’s decision to eliminate 18,000 roles across the globe.
“Between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today, we plan to eliminate just over 18,000 roles. Several teams are impacted; however, the majority of role eliminations are in our Amazon Stores and PXT organisations,” Jassy said.
As of December 31, 2021, Amazon employed approximately 16,08,000 full-time and part-time staff. In November, Amazon decided to eliminate a number of positions across devices and books businesses, and also announced a voluntary reduction offer for some employees in its people, experience, and technology (PXT) organisation.
In Brief:
The pilot of a trainer aircraft was killed after it crashed in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district, 400 km from State capital Bhopal, police said on January 6. The trainee pilot who was on board was injured in the incident that took place around 11.30 pm on January 5, said an official. The aircraft crashed three km away from Chorhatta airstrip after hitting the dome of a temple and a tree while on a training sortie, said Chorhatta police station in-charge J.P. Patel. Captain Vimal Kumar (50), resident of Patna, was killed in the crash while trainee pilot Sonu Yadav (23), resident of Jaipur, suffered injuries.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
