On April 14, the high court of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, India, rejected the plea of a same-sex couple to have their marriage recognized. The court ruled that the couple's marriage violates the Hindu Marriage Act of 1995.
The plea was submitted to Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav on April 7.
According to the Deccan Herald, the two women said they are two adults in love with each other. The women also told Yadav that they had already entered into wedlock.
The couple presented a marriage certificate and asked that the government recognize their marriage. The couple cited Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. v. Union of India case.
In this case, the supreme court of India acknowledged homosexuality. It ruled that the "emotional behavior of an individual to seek intimacy in the same gender, should be treated as consensual activity and reflective of consensual choice."
The government of Uttar Pradesh opposed the plea, insisting that same-sex marriage is against Indian culture and the Hindu religion. "In India, marriage is considered a sacred 'sanskar,' whereas, in other countries, marriage is a contract," Uttar Pradesh's counsel said.
The state argued that the supreme court legitimized "a particular human behavior, but did not legitimize the human conduct in question (same-sex marriage)."
The state's counsel also explained that India "runs according to the Indian culture, religions, and Indian law." The counsel added that marriage without a man is also not acceptable in India since it is beyond the concept of what an Indian family is.
Although the Hindu Marriage Act of 1995 does not explicitly prohibit marriage between same-sex couples, it defines a valid marriage between a groom and a bride.
Yadav eventually rejected the couple's plea for recognition from the Indian government. Yadav also dismissed the case submitted by Anju Devi, the mother of one of the couple, accusing the other of "abducting" her daughter.
Equaldex, a collaborative knowledge base for the LGBT movement, scored India at 65 out of 100 in its Equality Index. Although same-sex marriage in India is not illegal, it is also not recognized.
