In the Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954, wherever "husband" and "wife" is used, make it gender neutral by using "spouse", while "man" and "woman" should be substituted by "person", the .
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud made it clear that it is for time being not stepping into personal laws at all and restricting it to Special Marriage Act by giving it a gender-neutral interpretation and evolving a civil union concept.The
Same-sex marriage hearing LIVE: A five-judge Constitution Bench is hearing a batch of petitions seeking legal recognition for same-sex marriage. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the LGBTQ community should have the right to a life of dignity and to the institution of marriage and family which is available to heterosexual persons. The petitioners are seeking the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, to read marriage as between “spouse” instead of “man and woman".
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the government, stated that the court needs to first address whether the judiciary is the right forum to create new socio-legal relationships instead of Parliament.