— This court cannot legislate. It can only interpret the law and give effect to it, said Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
He calls on the government to uphold LGBTQ rights and stop discrimination.
— The court has concluded that equality requires that queer unions and queer people are not discriminated against.
The verdict, met with disappointment by people gathered outside the court in New Delhi, states that the right to marriage for same-sex couples is not guaranteed by India’s constitution under current law.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has previously opposed attempts to legalize same-sex marriage.
In the legal process, five High Court judges have ruled on 20 submissions about legalizing same-sex marriage in the world’s most populous country. Chandrachud states that there have been degrees of disagreement among the five “about how far we need to go” on same-sex marriage.
LGBT rights in India have improved in recent years, in most cases following interventions by the Supreme Court.